Hope From Heroes
by Gokai Doctor
Summary: Worlds have merged together and magic has become a common place tool across the world. As Luffy makes his way into the guild called Fairy Tail, events are set into motion that nobody could have been prepared for. Will their bonds be able to pull them through the coming hard times? This is a crossover story between Naruto, Fairy Tail, One Piece, and Bleach! {ON HOLD}
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everybody and welcome to my new project! This is something I've wanted to attempt for a while since I did Dragon Tail Shippuden a while back and dropped it. However, what I'm doing now is a complete overhaul of the idea. Basically, a what if these characters always lived in this world? What would change about it? How would the story be different? That's what I want to explore along with some awesome fight scenes and character moments.**

**While the main crossover is between Fairy Tail, Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece, there will be characters from other franchises that show up throughout. However, that is mainly the extent of it, only characters from other series will be included not their story arcs. **

**I hope you can all find enjoyment in Hope From Heroes! Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Rubber Boy**

The scene opens on the docks as a new arrival of ships enter the docks of Magnolia. A boy steps out donning a red jacket and straw hat.

"Yes! Finally land!" The young boy shouts excitedly stepping onto the railing of the ship and jumping straight off onto the land. Multiple gasps could be heard fearing for the boy's safety, but as he lands it's like his body squishes and reforms like rubber.

The boy looks out towards the city stretched in front of him. "Now… to find them!" He walks off with a big smile on his face into the city as people go back to their days and stop staring.

**~At Fairy Tail~**

"You're going where!?" The guild master, Makarov, shouts suddenly as a young pink haired boy stands in front of him.

"I'm going to search for Igneel is a nearby village! There's rumors of a Salamander around there!" The pink-hair boy declares as the room grows quiet as Makarov steps down and looks up at the boy.

"I see. Natsu, be careful." Makarov tells Natsu not stopping him as the boy smiles wide as a blue cat flies around his head.

"You don't need to worry about me pops! I got Happy to watch my back!" Natsu motions to the blue cat flying around him with angelic white wings keeping him aloft as it stops and lands.

"Aye sir!" Happy does a salute as Makarov grumbles.

Natsu runs off passing the boy with the straw hat on his way out of the Guild hall. "To find Igneel… do you really think it's him Happy?"

Happy shrugs, "It never hurts to look and the reports did say it was a salamander!"

Natsu blows fire out of his nose briefly excitedly. "Exactly! Let's go!"

"Aye!" Happy shouts happily as the two eventually reach the train station.

"Nevermind, let's turn back." Natsu suddenly begins to turn around as Happy tries to drag him by his scarf.

"I know you hate vehicles, but this could be Igneel!" Happy shouts still trying to drag Natsu who sighs audibly.

"Fiiine," Natsu sadly says as he steps onto the train and grabs a seat with Happy.

**~Back at Fairy Tail~**

"Fairy Tail… I'm here!" Luffy smiles widely entering through the door and being met by more than 30 people all sitting around having a good time. "Ohhhh!"

A boy with no shirt or pants steps out in front of Luffy. "Who are you?"

"AHHH, where's your clothes!?" Luffy shouts pointing to his bare skin.

"When the hell did this happen!?" The boy lets out in surprise as he shakes his head and looks back at Luffy. "Seriously though, who are you?"

"My name's Luffy! I'm here to join Fairy Tail and become the Guild Master!" Luffy declares proudly and with confidence as suddenly the boy and a large number of the guild begin laughing.

"This shrimp?"  
"No way he could be Guild Master!"  
"Gray, put on some clothes."

"I mean it!" Luffy shouts starting to get angry as Makarov and Mirajane step out of the crowd walking towards Luffy.

"So you're here to join Fairy Tail, eh?" Makarov asks walking right up to Luffy.

"Yeah, and one day when I become strong enough, I'll become the best Guild Master!" Luffy declares as Makarov chuckles holding in a laugh as well.

"Alright then, show me what you got boy." Makarov smiles creepily as Mirajane audibly sighs.

"Master, are you sure you won't overdo it?" Mirajane asks worriedly as Makarov nods.

"I need to see what this kid can do. Coming in here like that, he better be able to hold up to his word!" Makarov exclaims as he looks at Luffy who is excitedly stretching before getting into a fighting stance. "Are you ready boy?"

"Yeah, let's go!" Luffy suddenly rears up his arm holding onto his bicep with his other hand. "**Gomu Gomu no Pistol!**"

His arms suddenly shoots out rocketing towards Makarov who just holds out his hand catching the attack and twisting Luffy's arm causing him to fall over and hit a table.

"I'm not done yet!" Luffy declares as he suddenly flings himself at Makarov. "**Gomu Gomu no Rocket!**" He leads with his feet hoping to kick Makarov, but suddenly finds himself on the ground with a big bruise on his forehead. "Wh-what?"

"That was ugly…" The stripping boy comments suddenly without clothes again.

"Gray… your clothes." Cana mutters as she grabs another barrel of alcohol and begins washing it down.

"AHH HOW!?" Gray shouts quickly putting his clothes back on.

"Those were some pretty impressive attacks boy, what's your name?" Makarov extends his hand to Luffy who takes it and sits back up.

"Monkey D. Luffy, but people just call me Luffy." Luffy seemed pretty discouraged by the outcome of the fight as he hangs his head causing Makarov to laugh.

"Well Luffy, welcome to Fairy Tail!" Makarov tells him causing Luffy's eyes to light up with excitement. Multiple Fairy Tail members around Luffy begin to congratulate him along with Mirajane while in the back of the Guild two people stand together looking for a job.

"Looks like someone joined the Guild!" A short blonde boy declares exciting shaking his red-haired partner.

"Calm down, they probably won't stick around for long." The red-haired boy remarks with a very pessimistic attitude about him.

"But Ichigo, we might be able to get him to join us for a job since Natsu is busy!" The blonde-haired kid shouts enthusiastically as Ichigo sighs.

"If you want to ask him, that's fine. Just don't scare him off Naruto." Ichigo retorts picking out a job with the reward being 150,000 jewels. "This'll do,"

Naruto runs off towards Luffy who is getting his Fairy Tail tattoo on his chest. "Hey, new guy, we're gonna take a job, you wanna come?"

Luffy looks up excitedly as his tattoo is finished. "Hell yeah!"

Naruto and Luffy begin to head over to Ichigo, but is suddenly stopped by Mirajane, a white-haired rather calm woman in a guild with a very sullied reputation.

"Already heading out for a job you three?" Mirajane asks Naruto as Ichigo comes over with a job request.

"Yeah, we'll be heading out." Ichigo mutters looking over the job in more detail.

"Have a safe trip!" Mirajane tells them sincerely before heading off as Ichigo looks at Luffy and scoffs.

"Let's go," Ichigo motions to Naruto as the three young boys head out of the Guild.

* * *

**What adventure awaits them on their first job as a newly formed team? Find out on the next chapter!  
****Next Chapter: The First Job!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Aaand here we go, the second chapter! I wrote these first two back-to-back, but I'd like to hear what you guys think of the series so far, so please review! If you didn't get it from the first chapter, this is taking place during the first episode or manga chapter of Fairy Tail! I was going to recount the events, but I'm sure you all know it by now. **

* * *

**Chapter 2: The First Job**

After grabbing the job, Luffy, Naruto, and Ichigo quickly left Fairy Tail not giving the new guy much time to breathe and get a bearing on his new life.

"So, what's the job?" Luffy asks on the train as they sit across from each other.

"Apparently there's a bandit outpost stationed outside the city we're visiting. They've been pillaging the city daily, draining the villagers of their food and money. So they got all their remaining money together to pay us for this job." Ichigo explains to Luffy and Naruto who start to get excited when they realize that they'll get to be in a fight.

"Leave it to me! I'll make sure these bandits don't hurt the village!" Luffy declares while standing before suddenly getting smacked over the head by Ichigo. "Ow, ow!"

"It's not going to be that simple. There seems to be a powerful mage among them which is why we're going to need to work together." Ichigo retorts sitting back down along with Luffy.

"Exactly, that's how we do it at Fairy Tail." Naruto nods with Luffy realizing he made a good choice in Guilds. "Let's go over our magic, so we know who can do what."

Luffy excitedly steps forward but forgets he's sitting so he falls to the ground. "Ow! Okay, so my magic is Rubber Body! My body can stretch and contort in any way I move it! It also lets me shoot my arms or myself forward at crazy speeds!"

"Wow, that sounds super cool!" Naruto shouts excitedly as Ichigo shushes him.

"Turn down the volume, we're on a train." Ichigo grumbles as Naruto and Luffy both apologize.

"Anyways, I have two types of magic! Wind Magic and Clone Magic. I use my Wind Magic to create small handheld balls of wind that I can hit my opponents with. My Clone Magic I use for information gathering because once the clone is gone, all of it's knowledge and skill is brought back into me." Naruto explains happily with Luffy aweing in Naruto's power.

"I also have two types of magic," Ichigo announces with Luffy turning to him. "However, I only use one of them. It's called Soul Sword, a type of special requip magic."

"Awesome!" Luffy declares rather loudly as Ichigo shushes him again.

"So how long until we reach the village Ichigo?" Naruto asks curiously yawning as he lays back in his seat.

"Probably another 10 minutes. I'd recommend resting because as soon as we make it there, we're going to-" The train abruptly stops throwing Ichigo, Luffy and Naruto from their seats and onto the ground. "What's going on?"

**~In front of the train~**

A man steps out in front of the train grinning. "Today, our revolution begins." Digging his feet into the tracks, the train tries to come to a halt as the man puts up his arms which suddenly turn a black and red color with a spike protruding from both shoulders. His fists slam into the front of the train using his sheer force of will and power to bring the train to an absolute stop.

"Perfect work as always Chad. You never cease to amaze me." A blonde very well-built man steps out clapping his hands together as suddenly a force of about twenty bandits begin to surround the train and enter from the front and back. "Now to kill these annoying fairies…"

**~Inside the train~**

As soon as Ichigo muttered his confusion, two explosions could be heard from the front and back end of the train.

"We've been boarded," Naruto retorts standing up readily as suddenly screams could be heard from both explosion zones.

"It's very likely to be the same bandits terrorizing the village. I'm headed for the front of the train to see what stopped us and maybe get us moving again." Ichigo explains as he stands up.

"I'll head for the back and secure and exit then," Naruto takes off running for the back of the train telling the passengers to keep their heads low as he passes by.

"Yes! Finally a fight!" Luffy stretches his arms and legs out excitedly as Ichigo looks at him worriedly.

"Luffy, I want you to hang back for a second." Ichigo says this stopping for a second as Luffy's face scrunches up.

"Aww, come on Ichigo!" Luffy begs as Ichigo shakes his head.

"I won't, but if I did get beaten right now at the front of the train… there'd be nobody to stop whoever beat me. So I need you to-" Ichigo prepares to finish his sentence as he's suddenly punched across the mouth by Luffy.

"I know I just joined Fairy Tail… but the hell is that weak resolve?!" Luffy shouts causing Ichigo to look at Luffy with wide eyes. "You're supposed to be my comrade now, so there's no way I'd turn my back on you!"

Ichigo looks down before smiling and standing back up. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go." Luffy grins widely as the two charge towards the front of the train.

**~With Naruto~**

"Everyone stay down, I'm with Fairy Tail. We'll be sure to—" Naruto doesn't get to finish as suddenly he's punched across the face and through the train's wall falling outside.

"A mage from Fairy Tail, huh? When the boss told me you were coming, I was surprised, but it turns out you're just a kid. Now I'm disappointed." An boy older than Naruto steps out having round glasses and white hair to complement his harmless looking exterior.

"Don't look down on a mage of Fairy Tail! **Clone Magic: Triple!**" Naruto puts up a hand sign as a magical circle appears around him creating three copies of himself that charge at the older boy.

Suddenly, the boy jumps into action thrusting his fingers into the points between nerves which quickly causes them to disappear in a poof of smoke. "Pathetic,"

"**Wind Magic: Rasengan!**" Naruto appears through the smoke with a swirling ball of compressed wind and magic that he intends to hit the boy in front of him with. However, in a swift motion the boy takes his two fore fingers shoving them into Naruto's elbow immediately cutting off the magic and having his arm go limp. "What!?"

"Bye fairy," The boy then delivers a swift roundhouse kick to Naruto's face sending him into the ground.

**~With Luffy & Ichigo~**

Ichigo kicks open the door to find the conductor laid out on the ground completely unconscious. Ichigo kneels down making sure he's alive and breathing a sigh of relief as Luffy stands over them both looking out at in the front. "We need to figure out who did this,"

"It's probably those guys," Luffy points outside the train towards Chad and the blonde man who stand readily.

"I don't like this. They're just standing there." Ichigo comments as he suddenly grabs Luffy pushing him out of the way as a blade comes crashing down from behind, a few bandits had gathered behind them. "You need to be careful…"

"Yeah, thanks Ichigo! Let me take care of these guys." Luffy stands back up holding onto his right bicep as he readies himself with a magic circle appearing.

"Get him! Before he can cast his magic!" One of the bandits shouts as the nearest one tries to slice at Luffy.

"**Gomu Gomu no Pistol!**" Luffy's arm suddenly shoots out like an actual bullet slamming into the bandits and knocking them unconscious. "Heh!"

Ichigo looks at Luffy before kicking open the door to the outside.

"Welcome Fairy Tail to my humble little bloodbath," The blonde man says with a bit of a chivalrous tone.

"This town doesn't belong to you," Ichigo retorts with the blonde man scoffing at that.

"Soon everything will belong to me, DIO!" DIO declares doing an extravagant pose with Ichigo gritting his teeth and Luffy staring blankly.

Luffy steps up wanting to impress, "Don't worry, I got this! **Gomu Gomu no**—" Before Luffy can finish his spell Ichigo pushes him out of the way of Chad's attack which creates a rather large crater in the ground.

"_So this DIO is the mage we were warned of…,"_ Ichigo thinks to himself flipping backwards and stretching out his hand. "**Soul Sword!**" A magic circle appears around Ichigo's hand as a rather large sword appears.

DIO has a look of surprise before grinning. "Now this could get interesting…"

**~With Naruto~**

"Guess Fairy Tail is just as pathetic as I thought," The boy taunts kicking Naruto again in the stomach sending him sprawling across the ground.

Naruto however punches into the ground as he pushes himself back up barely. "Who… who are you to trash my guild!? If you really think I'm so pathetic, then hit me with everything you have!"

The boy grins as a magical circle appears around himself. "As you wish. **Body Magic: Nerve Pain Times Two!**"

Suddenly, Naruto gasps for air as every single attack he's received has a second wind of pain causing him to contort from the sudden attack.

"And just who am I, little fairy? My name is Kabuto, the one who will be sending you to an early grave." Kabuto grins widely as Naruto does his best to catch his breath.

"Y-you… you haven't beaten me yet!" Naruto manages to stand yet again through sheer willpower as he makes a hand sign and a magical circle appears.

"Sorry kid, but I can't let you take this further. The boss would look down on me. **Body Magic: Nerve Pain Times**—" However, just as Kabuto is about to finish his spell Naruto jumps forward having faked him out under the farce of a spell and punching Kabuto across the jaw.

"**Wind Magic: Rasengan!**" Naruto grits his teeth as he shoves a Rasengan into Kabuto's gut with his other hand causing Kabuto to go flying into the train creating a massive dent in the side of it. "Like I'd lose to some idiot who trashes the Fairy Tail name!"

Naruto trembles for a second and falls to a knee breathing hard as he catches his breath. "Now… to help Ichigo and Luffy."

**~With Luffy & Ichigo~**

Ichigo charges forward with his summoned sword attempting to slash as DIO only for Chad to intercept him and block the attack with his armored arms. "As I thought… you act as a shield."

"I do what my master requires," Chad retorts pushing Ichigo off him with immense force causing Ichigo to skid across the ground.

"**Gomu Gomu no Pistol!**" Luffy extends his arm forward slamming it into Chad who takes a step backwards to brace himself, but is otherwise unaffected thanks to blocking with his arms. "Eh!?"

"Your attacks cannot hurt me," Chad simply states suddenly punching the ground causing a massive upheaval sent towards Luffy hitting him with multiple pieces of debris. Ichigo suddenly charges forward swinging his sword around and going in to attack at Chad's legs only to be suddenly blocked by Chad's arm. "Like I said, you cannot hurt me." Chad then unleashes a devastating punch against Ichigo's face sending him straight into the front of the train with a massive dent in the metal being formed.

"Ichigo!" Luffy cries out before turning back to Chad and DIO. "You're going to pay for hurting my guildmate!"

DIO takes a step forward, an intense aura of evil surrounding him as Luffy nearly falls over. "Is that so?"

Ichigo's sword is suddenly stabbed into the ground as he pushes himself back up. "You hear him, you're going to pay."

"How're you still standing!?" Chad shouts in disbelief as Ichigo just smirks.

"You think that half-assed sort've punch is gonna take me down?" Ichigo extends his sword as he starts to gather magic into it with it beginning to glow a blue color. "**Soul Sword: Getsuga Tenshou!**" Suddenly, a magic circle appears which Ichigo slices upwards through it as a blue wave of energy is sent towards DIO and Chad. Chad steps forward throwing his fist forward for to punch into it, but as he does an explosion erupts sending everyone flying back.

"I-Incredible," Luffy manages to get out as he gets into a standing position trying to see through the dust that had been kicked up by the explosion. Chad laid on the ground completely unconscious, DIO was nowhere to be seen, and Ichigo was supporting himself up with his sword. "Ichigo, are you okay!?"

Ichigo nods as his sword disappears. "That attack… it still takes too much out of me." Ichigo sighs in relief that the combat was over as he falls to his knees.

"Guys!" Naruto suddenly jumps off the top of the train seeing what happened. "What happened?"

"Some guy named DIO orchestrated this attack…" Ichigo explains quickly breathing heavily from the fact that his magic reserves were next to nothing after his attack.

"I don't think these were just normal bandits. I fought another mage at the back of the train who was pretty strong." Naruto admits as Luffy walks over to Chad looking over his body. "Luffy?"

"You're still awake, aren't you?" Luffy retorts as suddenly Chad's body tenses up and Naruto and Ichigo's eyes widen.

"How… did you know?" Chad asks unable to move from the spot he's lying in.

"Because you took the hit for your master, right? I doubt you'd let yourself die if you thought he was still in danger." Luffy states with Chad grumbling under his breath. "So, who are you guys?"

"You'll find out soon enough when Fairy Tail is destroyed…" Chad mutters out before falling unconscious.

"Eh? What do you mean destroyed!?" Luffy grabs him by the shirt. "What do you mean!?"

Naruto puts his hand on Luffy's shoulder. "He's out of it Luffy, let's turn them over to the authorities. Looks like our job is done." Luffy lets go of Chad who falls to the ground.

After several hours, the three gained their reward along with their ticket home. Kabuto and Chad got rounded up by the authorities, but DIO was nowhere to be found.

"I don't like it sir. He said Fairy Tail would be destroyed, and with their boss still out there…" Ichigo was reporting things to Makarov as he suddenly stops him.

"You three did well. It's unfortunate this DIO couldn't be captured, but we will deal with him and his threats when they come. For now, tell me how our newest member did." Makarov looks out of the balcony to see Luffy, Gray, and Naruto roughhousing.

"He's a bit rough around the edges, jumps into combat without thinking and has no real strategy. Reminds me a lot of Natsu, but I get a feeling there's something more to him. Something he isn't telling us." Ichigo explains to Makarov who nods.

"Fairy Tail is a home for the broken Ichigo. Many of you who stepped into these walls have your own issues and dark pasts. However, I would like it if you kept an eye on him." Makarov walks back over to his resting place and waves Ichigo goodnight.

"I won't fail you master," Ichigo assures him before heading down as a full-blown brawl erupts between the guild which he gets caught up in.

* * *

**And that's a wrap! What could Luffy be hiding? Who is this DIO and why does he want to destroy Fairy Tail? Find out more as the story continues!**  
**Next Chapter: Raging Monkey!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all for the support on the first 2 chapters yesterday! I'd love to hear your thoughts on the series so far, but thank you for reading it all the same. This chapter was gonna come out next week, but because of the support I decided to release it today! Thank you all so much again!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Raging Monkey**

Over the course of the next day, Luffy had managed to find a place to stay within Magnolia and used his earnings from the most recent job in order to buy it.

Luffy barely opens his eyes waking up, "Guaaah! I should go see what the guild is up to! Maybe Naruto and Ichigo are up for a job!" Luffy hops up out of bed throwing on his clothes and straw hat before rushing out the door.

As he finally reaches the guild, he finds a lot of the benches broken apart from an earlier brawl and a blonde sitting next to Mirajane getting her Fairy Tail tattoo.

"Wow! Natsu, look! I got the mark of Fairy Tail now!" The blonde jumps around excitedly as Natsu just looks at her completely uninterested.

"Good for you Luigi," Natsu comments as the blonde stops and turns.

"It's Lucy!" Lucy declares angrily at Natsu who sighs and gets up out of the bench. Luffy suddenly runs up extending his hand.

"Nice to meet you Lucy! My name's Luffy!" Luffy shouts excited that someone other than him is new to Fairy Tail.

"Oh, uh, nice to meet you." Lucy shakes Luffy's hand. "I don't recognize you from the Mage Guild's Magazine, did you just join too?"

"I joined a couple of days ago!" Luffy excitedly states as a crying little kid runs past them both towards Master Makarov.

"Is my Dad back yet!?" The little boy asks Makarov through the tears as Makarov just sighs.

"Romeo, you're annoying. Your Father is a mage of Fairy Tail, he'll be fine. Go wait for him at home." Makarov retorts tiredly as Romeo still looks at him through tears.

"He said he'd be back in 3 days, but it's been a week!" Romeo cries out worriedly as some of the other guild members took notice including Natsu.

"Macao's job was at Mount Hakobe, right?"  
"That old man? I'm sure he's fine."

"Please look for him, I'm worried!" Romeo shouts again at Makarov who growls.

"No way! Your father is a proud member of Fairy Tail! There's nobody here who can't hold their own! Now go home and drink some milk or something." Makarov angrily replies before suddenly Romeo punches him and runs away crying.

"It's pretty strict around here, isn't it?" Lucy asks Luffy curiously who shrugs.

"I wouldn't know, but I'm sure the master is worried." Luffy says with confidence with Lucy looking at him confused.

"Why would you say that?" Lucy asks him as Luffy gives a wide grin.

"Because it's a Guildmaster's job to care about his mages! And one day I'll be the Guildmaster of Fairy Tail, so I want to care about them too!" Luffy announce to Lucy who looks at him with slight admiration. Suddenly, Natsu punches the job board as he starts to make his exit out of Fairy Tail.

"What just happened there?" Lucy thinks her mind as Mirajane passes by the two.

"Natsu probably saw a bit of himself in Romeo there. You see, his father disappeared one day and never came back. And by father, I mean foster parent and he's a dragon." Mirajane leaving Lucy and Luffy's faces to fall.

"A-a dragon!?" Lucy shouts confused as to how something like that could exist in the modern day.

"That's so cool!" Luffy doesn't question it confusing Lucy more.

"Right!? He was found by that dragon in a forest when he was little. He taught him words, culture, and probably most importantly his magic. But one day, he just disappeared." Mirajane explains working behind the bar as she puts the glasses from the tavern back in it's correct places.

"So that's Igneel…" Lucy mutters to herself as Luffy looks at her confused.

"Igneel?" Luffy asks curiously.

"It's the dragon who raised Natsu. He's still looking for him even to this day, isn't that cute?" Mirajane and Lucy laugh leaving Luffy feeling like he missed the joke. "We are… mages of Fairy Tail. We're all carrying something. Wounds, pain, suffering, even I do…"

Luffy looks down knowingly, he felt a tang of hurt from his past before suddenly bursting out the door alongside Lucy to join Natsu. They see Natsu pat Romeo on the head as he walks him. The two rush off to catch up. The three plus a caught up Happy get on a carriage and depart for Mount Hakobe.

"You don't do so well with vehicles huh?" Luffy observes as Natsu is laid out in the carriage trying to hold his stomach intact.

"He has motion sickness—wait who even are you!?" Happy suddenly exclaims as Luffy just smiles widely.

"My name is Monkey D. Luffy, I'm going to be the future Guildmaster of Fairy Tail one day!" Luffy announce confidently as Lucy just sighs and Happy holds into a laugh. "It's not a joke!"

"Sure kid, sure… pfft." Happy holds in a laugh as Luffy growls.

"Why… did you two even come along?" Natsu mutters slowly.

"I want to help out my other guildmates like a good Guildmaster will one day!"  
"I just wanted to do something nice for Fairy Tail, hehe!"

"_They're both doing it for selfish reasons, I can tell."_ Happy thinks to himself as suddenly the carriage comes to a stop with Natsu springing up.

"We stopped?" Natsu lets out confused considering they shouldn't have arrived for another 30 minutes.

Luffy opens up the door only to be suddenly met with a wave of cold. "Woah!"

"Isn't this a little insane? We're in the middle of the summer and there's a snowstorm!" Lucy shouts as the 4 mages jump out and the carriage heads back due to being unable to continue. "Heeey wait! Come back!"

"She's really noisy," Natsu casually comments.

"Aye," Both Happy and Luffy say aloud. She growls at the three before suddenly taking out a silver key which peaks their interests.

"Fine then! **O-o-open Gate of the Clock! Horologium!**" Lucy declares as a magic circle appears under her as she presses the key into the ground as suddenly a clock forms around her.

"A clock!?" Natsu shouts amazed.

"So cool!" Luffy lets out excitedly.

"I'll be in here she says," The clock speaks for her causing all three of them to reel back in surprise.

"The clock talked!?" Happy exclaims in confusion.

"What did you even come along for?" Natsu retorts rudely as Natsu shivers inside the clock.

"Speaking of, what was Macao's job? She says." The clock speaks for her as Lucy looks at them curiously.

"You two came along not knowing that?" Natsu asks with both nodding. "Macao was after a brutal rampaging monster named Balkan,"

"I hope I get to fight him!" Luffy declares excitedly surprising Natsu who turns happily.

"I know right!? If someone like him can beat Macao, I wanna kick his ass!" Natsu declares happily with Luffy nodding in agreement.

"They're hopeless," Happy sighs walking alongside them as they walk around shouting for Macao.

"MACAOOO!?" Luffy cries out.

"WERE YOU DONE IN BY BALKAN!?" Natsu shouts at the top of his lungs looking desperately before suddenly sniffing the air and getting a worried look on his face. Suddenly, Balkan drops down right next to Lucy picking the clock up with her inside.

"Oooh, a human woman!" The monkey suddenly runs off with her.

"Hey, give Lucy back!" Natsu cries out running after the Balkan.

"Don't worry, I'll catch up to it! **Gomu Gomu no Rocket!**" Luffy grabs a hold of two nearby rocks stretching his arms out before suddenly launching himself at the Balkan. The hit connects knocking the Balkan over and causing him to drop Lucy out of Horologium.

"AHH, someone help!" Lucy shouts as she goes falling off the edge of the mountain.

"You got her Happy?" Natsu asks as he charges at the Balkan.

"Aye sir!" Happy suddenly grows out wings flying past Natsu and towards Lucy to try and catch her.

"I don't like human men! Leave me alone!" The Balkan shouts smacking Luffy into the mountain side just as Natsu catches up. "More human men!"

"**Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!**" Natsu announces as his fist ignites with fire and he launches himself forward punching the Balkan in the gut which sends it flying back.

"Nice shot!" Luffy congratulates from the sidelines as suddenly the Balkan yells angrily grabbing Natsu and dragging him across the ground before punching him in the stomach.

"Natsu!" Lucy and Happy cry out worriedly as Happy emerges from over the mountain with Lucy in his hands. The Balkan looks over with his perverted nature suddenly taking over and ignoring Natsu.

"Human woman!" The Balkan charges forward ripping Lucy away from Happy and storming off.

"No, Lucy!" Luffy cries out, but he falls to his knees injured from the Balkan's attack.

"Are you… gonna just lay there?" Natsu growls punching into the snow before standing back up slowly. "If you really want to be the Guildmaster of Fairy Tail, rule number 1 is to never abandon your friends!"

Luffy smiles crookedly as he stands up shakily. "Right! Let's do it."

"I'm alongside you!" Happy announces with the two nodding at Happy.

"**Fire Dragon's Claw!**" Natsu suddenly shoots flames out of his feet boosting himself forward at incredibly speeds as he grabs Lucy out of the Balkan's hands.

"Natsu…!" Lucy gasps in surprise as a blush comes over her face. The Balkan turns to hit Natsu when Luffy's magic circle appears around him.

"**Gomu Gomu no Pistol!**" Luffy shoots his arm forward just in time smacking the Balkan across the face and causing it to go flying into a nearby rock.

"Happy!" Natsu cries out tossing Lucy in the air to which she screams at.

"Aye, I got her!" Happy swoops in grabbing Lucy and taking her out of the fight.

"Now I'm getting fired up! I'm going to make you tell me where Macao is!" Natsu shouts angrily as he turns to where the Balkan landed as the snow dust begins to settle revealing… Macao. "EH!?"

"EHHH!?" Luffy and Lucy shout confused as Happy lands her.

"It must have been some sort of takeover magic," Happy thinks aloud as the 4 scramble over to the badly injured Macao.

"Takeover magic?" Lucy asks confused.

"It allows the user to take over the opponent's body. Geez, do you know anything?" Happy jokes with Lucy punching the cat upside the head.

"He's badly injured…" Luffy plainly remarks looking over Macao. "At this rate he'll…"

"No… I won't let him." Natsu suddenly states taking his burning hand and placing it on the open wound to close it. Macao screams in agony, but it works and he awakens.

"Natsu…Happy…" Macao looks over at Luffy and Lucy. "Random people…?" Luffy and Lucy's faces drops sadly as Macao coughs up blood. "Damn, I managed to take out 19 of those monsters, but the 20th one caught me surprise."

"You mean… you?" Lucy manages to get out through shock. _"He took down 19 of those crazy things!?"_

"Wow, you're crazy awesome!" Luffy retorts excitedly as Macao grins through the pain.

"_And he thinks it's awesome!? Why are none of these Fairy Tail people normal?"_ Lucy whines to herself in her own thoughts as Natsu grins and helps Macao to a standing position.

"Let's get you back to Romeo," Natsu mutters as the 5 Fairy Tail mages begin to head back down the mountain.

Romeo sits alone on a bench thinking about his Father and what had motivated him to take the job in the first place.

"_Fairy Tail mages? They're just a bunch of drunks!"  
"No way, they're the coolest!"  
"You're just a crybaby! Your dad is probably a deadbeat!"  
"HAHAHA!"_

Romeo had later gone to his Father begging him to do something awesome that he could brag about. Now he sits alone just wishing his Father was there.

"Oi, Romeo!" Natsu calls out from behind him with Macao slung over his shoulder alongside Luffy, Lucy, and Happy.

"Dad!" Romeo calls out happily running over and hugging him. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"Hush boy. Now you have something to brag about." Macao's face brightens up with a smile. "Not every son can say their Dad took on 19 monsters!"

Tears fill Romeo's eyes as he hugs him tighter. "Thank you Natsu, Lucy, Luffy!"

The mages smile as they begin to walk off.

* * *

**What next job will hold over Natsu, Naruto, Ichigo, and Luffy? Just how scary is Erza? Find out next time!**  
**Next Time: Scarlet Devil!**


	4. Chapter 4

**And welcome back! As we jump into the Lullaby Arc, I wanna say a few things. First, I'm very happy people are interested in this! Second, I'm going to trying to attempt a weakly release schedule for this so that it always has forward progress being made. I hope you guys stay tuned cause I'm getting fired up with this story! Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Scarlet Devil**

It's been a couple of weeks since the Macao job. Natsu, Lucy, and Happy went out on the Daybreak job request while Luffy, Ichigo, Naruto and Gray did odd jobs. Everyone is happily drinking to their successes at the Guild, but none of them realize the danger that awaits.

"Maaan I want a better job!" Naruto complains sadly as he lays his head on the table.

"Right? I just wanna punch something! Just thinking about it is getting me fired up!" Natsu declares as he also slams his head on the table in a funk.

"I'm so restless…" Luffy complains with his head on the table in a similar funk to the rest.

"Your complaining is annoying…" Gray retorts with his head on the table as well.

"He's just as bummed out as the others…" Happy comments to himself as Lucy looks over the job request board with Ichigo.

"I'm annoying, huh!?" Natsu and Gray suddenly butt heads as their arguments are reunited. They immediately get into a brawl with Luffy and Naruto joining in excitedly.

"Let's see," Lucy sighs as she takes a closer look seeing things about a demon at a volcano, a magical bracelet missing, and many other jobs, but really none that interest her.

"Nothing interesting?" Mirajane asks curiously standing behind the counter.

"No, not really." Lucy groans as Ichigo looks around.

"Where's the master Mira?" Ichigo asks confused as he has a job in mind that he wants to take.

"He's at the regular Guild leader meeting, so if you have a job picked out hand it over to me." Mirajane assures Ichigo as he grabs one about thieves pillaging across the border of Fiore.

"Guild leader meeting?" Lucy wasn't sure what it was, but it sounded important.

"Oh yeah, a new guild member like yourself and Luffy would have no idea what I'm talking about, sorry!" Mirajane laughs to herself. "Well you see there's the Magic Council, which is an offshoot of the government, they are in charge of overseeing the guilds and their membership. So, once every half a year the Guildmasters have to report to the council of the guild's earnings and new membership, like you!"

"It's a pain in the master's side every time," Ichigo sighs about to hand over the job when suddenly Loke comes crashing through the door.

"Oh crap! Natsu, Naruto, Gray!" Loke shouts at the top of his lungs as he runs over to the three who turn to him with Luffy confusedly in the middle of it all. "ERZA IS BACK!"

"WHAAAA!?" Naruto, Gray, and Natsu's faces were suddenly filled with fear as they shout at the top of their lungs. As if on cue, Erza enters the building with a massive horn looking object more than 10x her size as she carries it with no problem into the Guild. Everyone turns and those that know of Erza all take a simultaneous gulp.

"I'm back. Is the Master present at the moment?" Erza asks curiously.

"Nope! He's at the regular meeting." Mirajane explains from behind the counter as Erza sighs.

"I see…" She lets out.

"E-Erza, where did you that crazy big thing come from?" One of the guild members asks scared at what it came from.

"Oh this?" She pats the horn and the member gives a hurried nod. "Oh, the local townspeople decorated the horn of the demon I subdued in battle. I thought it was nice, so I brought it back. Will it be a nuisance?" There was a very hurried shaking of the head from the guildmate.

"Subdued…" Happy looks at it and Erza in fear.

"Anyways…" Erza suddenly gets a glare that causes those around to freak out. "I've heard you've been making trouble again. Master is too lenient, so I shall not be."

"W-who is she?" Lucy felt the tense air in the room and felt frightened as well.

"She's… one of the most powerful mages in Fairy Tail." Ichigo explains as Lucy looks at him with sweat dripping from his face.

"You're scared too!?" Lucy cries out worriedly as Ichigo usually has a calm demeanor.

"Cana, that's an unfit drinking posture for a lady. Wakaba your cigarette buds are getting on the floor, pick them up. Nav, stop hanging around the board and pick a job already." Erza sighs loudly seemingly tired with the Guild's antics already. "You guys give me so much trouble. I won't say anything for today."

"You've said a lot already though…" Happy retorts flying around Lucy.

"Is she some sort of disciplinary enforcer!?" Lucy wonder aloud in fear.

"She's Erza," Happy simply comments with Lucy growling at the flying cat.

"By the way, are Naruto, Gray, and Natsu around?" Erza suddenly asks with Happy flying down and pointing direction to them.

"Aye!" He gets out trying to get the attention away from himself. The image Lucy sees next greatly disturbs her as she lets out a scream.

"H-Hey Erza…" Naruto lets out as him, Natsu, and Gray are arm in arm shaking and sweating profusely.

"W-we're b-being g-g-good to each other as a-always!" Gray lets out a crooked smile.

"Aye!" Natsu manages to get out. Luffy looks between everyone confused.

"Natsu became like Happy!" Lucy shouts aloud greatly confused.

"They're scared of her…" Ichigo explains to Lucy.

"Like you're any better…" Lucy comments as Ichigo was shaking and sweating just as much, but just with a cool demeanor still on his face.

"Natsu fought Erza and lost badly, Erza caught Gray walking around naked so she beat him up, and Naruto did some sort of transformation technique that made Erza beat him up." Ichigo explain shaking as he explains this.

"All of them? But they're so strong…" Lucy lets out shaking now as well.

"So you're super strong, huh?" Luffy lets out standing up and not seeming to understand the situation.

"I'd like to think so, yes." Erza admits to Luffy who grins widely. "Are you new here?"

Luffy nods clenching his fists, "My name is Monkey D. Luffy! I challenge you to a-" Before he can finish his sentence, Natsu and Naruto suddenly grab him from behind trying to muffle him.

"Hm? I didn't catch that." Erza asks confused as Luffy continues to be muffled.

"It was an honest mistake! He's just an idiot!" Gray covers for Luffy who growls.

"Anyways…" Erza's gaze turns serious again. "I actually have a favor to ask of you. Naruto, Natsu, Ichigo, and Gray. I've heard some trouble rumbling in the underground. Usually I'd consult the Master about it, but I consider this to be top priority. I need your help. You'll come with me, right?"

"EH?"  
"HUH!?"

Those were the sounds filling the guild hall as Erza said those words.

"Someone who beat such a large monster…"  
"What's going on?"

"This is the first time… I've ever seen Erza team up with anyone." Mirajane lets out in a very hushed tone. "It might very well be one of the strongest teams in Fairy Tail history…"

"We'll meet at the train station tomorrow, don't be late." Erza warns before heading out as most of Fairy Tail breathes a sigh of relief.

"SHE WANTS ME TO WORK WITH YOU!?" Natsu points at Gray who points back both disgusted.

"NO WAY I CAN'T STAND THIS GUY!" Gray argues aloud as the two immediately get back into their fist fight. Naruto runs over to Ichigo who was stiff as a board.

"Hey Ichigo, guess we got that job huh?" Naruto was beaming at the chance to fight for real against opponents Erza wanted help against. "Ichigo?"

"Erza…" Ichigo was absolutely terrified as Luffy suddenly runs up.

"Hey, can I tag along too? Please! I wanna see Erza in action!" Luffy begs to Naruto who gives him a thumbs up.

"I don't see why not, I'm sure it'll go great!" Naruto was enthusiastic.

"I'm working with idiots," Ichigo mutters to himself in defeat.

"Aye!" Happy chirps.

**~At the Eisenwald Guildhall~**

"Oi, is Kageyama back yet!?" A man with a large scythe shouts lazily.

"Nah, he's still dismantling the barrier around it." A random guildmate chimes up.

"Hehehe, perhaps you should go punish him Erigor." A clown looking man with a pirate hat taunts as he walks up.

"Maybe I should Buggy, or maybe I'll take your head instead." Erigor threatens with Buggy suddenly growling. The door into the guild swings open as DIO steps into the guildhall. "Master! The master is back!"

"Quiet down, you're going to give me a headache." DIO whines as he takes his seat upon a throne. "Once Zabuza and Haku are done recovering Chad and Kabuto, we will be immediately in route."

Buggy chuckles, "Those old men leading the Guilds won't know what hit em."

**~The next day at the train station~**

The day opens with the sounds of trains passing by desperately trying to hit their schedule. Lucy stands in the midst of all this smiling happily at getting to explore more of Magnolia since she only recently joined Fairy Tail. Until…

"What did you just say hothead!?" Gray shouts grabbing Natsu by the shirt.

"I said don't strip in public you crazy idiot!" Natsu shouts back as Ichigo stands off to the side grumbling to himself as Naruto and Luffy watch the trains.

"This early? Why can't you guys get along?" Lucy whines as Natsu turns to her.

"Lucy? What are you doing here?" Natsu asks curiously still holding Gray's collar.

"Mirajane asked me to come along. She told me you guys would be too rough." Lucy sighs as Natsu and Gray immediately go back to hitting each other.

"_What could Erza want with us? She's so powerful already…"_ Ichigo thinks this to himself while unknowingly shaking from the thought of something Erza couldn't handle on her own.

"Hiii Erza!" Lucy shouts teasingly as Natsu and Gray suddenly lock arms trying to act like friends. "Hehe, gotcha."

"Oi, that's not right Lucy!" Natsu has flames coming out of his nose in protest. Luffy looks over seeing what was going on.

"Hey Naruto, is Erza really that powerful?" Luffy asks curiously.

Naruto gets a look of fear as he nods, "She's definitely stronger than me, but…" He clenches his fist and smiles. "I'll beat her one day on my way to become king,"

"EHH!?" Luffy shouts as Naruto just laughs. "You want to become king?"

"I want to protect everyone, and I think being the King is the best way to do that. I've seen how things are, that people are in poverty in places which is what turns them to Dark Guilds. It's a cycle I want to break one day, this ongoing war for peace." Naruto smiles happily thinking about that world as Luffy marvels at how cool Naruto seemed in that moment.

"Sorry… did I make you all wait for too long?" Erza suddenly steps out of the crowd with a massive suitcase packed.

"So much luggage…" Lucy comments as Erza suddenly turns to her with Lucy freezing up.

"Hm? You were at Fairy Tail yesterday…" Erza thinks back to it remembering Lucy in the crowd of Guild members.

Lucy bows respectfully, "My name is Lucy, I'm new to Fairy Tail and Mirajane asked me to tag along."

"Oh? Well welcome aboard the team then Lucy." Erza smiles at her at Lucy wonders to herself if Erza could be all that scary. Everyone begins to gather around waiting for the train to arrive. "This mission will be a bit risky, but with so many of us I'm sure you'll be fine."

"_Risky!?"_ Lucy thinks to herself worriedly.

"Hmph. I don't know what our task is, but I have a condition." Natsu suddenly declares with everyone aside from Erza looking at him like he was crazy.

"I-idiot, I would work for free Erza!" Gray comments as Natsu shoves him.

"What's the condition? Say it." Erza states with all eyes on Natsu.

"When we return, I want to fight again. I'm more powerful than last time." Natsu announces as suddenly everyone except for Erza again gives a hushed surprise.

"H-hey, don't push into things! You wanna die?!" Gray shouts worried that he's about see Natsu in a bloodbath with Erza just smirking to herself.

"You really have grown up Natsu. I'm not too confident in myself, but I accept your challenge." Erza answers with more surprise.

"No fair, I wanted to fight her!" Luffy grumbles disappointed as Ichigo smacks him upside the head.

"Shut up, watch Natsu and Erza fight will help you learn the distance between all of us. Pay close attention on this job and you'll begin to realize how different we are." Ichigo suddenly sounded more confident, but his knees were still shaking at the sight of Erza.

"Oh, did you wish to fight me too Luffy, Gray, Naruto?" She asks curiously as sudden shaking heads from Naruto and Gray.

"Maybe one day… but like Ichigo said, I don't know the difference between us yet. I'd like to see it first." Luffy lets out as Erza nods.

"And you… Ichigo?" She asks curiously as Ichigo grows bright red.

"U-uhm, actually… I was thinking… maybe…" Ichigo was jumping around his words.

"Pfft, Ichigo doesn't know how to speak." Happy chuckles to himself.

"I was thinking that a fight between us would be a good idea," Ichigo finally finishes with Erza nodding.

"Yeaaah! I'm fired up, let's do this job!" Natsu declares excitedly as the train begins to pull into the station.

* * *

**What is this Eisenwald Guild? Zabuza, the legendary mist swordsman has a grudge against Ichigo? What is going on!?**  
**Next Time: Entrance to Lullaby!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow, just wow. Thank you guys for all the support! Here we are like I promised, another weekly release! I actually got this one done early, so hopefully I can start pre-writing Chapter 6 and onwards cause woah these chapters are getting long. Hope you all enjoy the new chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Entrance to Lullaby**

Natsu groans uncomfortably as he lays back in the chair looking like he's about barf all over the seat.

"You're pathetic…" Gray crosses his arms and leans his head back hoping to get some rest.

"Despite seeing it multiple times now, it still looks painful." Lucy looks Natsu over cringing to herself.

"Here, let me help." Erza offers while pulling Natsu over to her. He begins to rest on her armor when she suddenly unleashes a side-splitting gut punch. Pain shoots through Natsu as he falls into her lap barely conscious. Everyone looks at her in fear while Naruto tries to not notice it.

"While we're here…" Ichigo suddenly speaks up with a serious tone as everyone looks over at him. "How about you tell us the job?"

Erza nods, "As I was returning from my job, I was resting in a bar when I overheard a group of people harassing the bar staff. I was about to step in when they said something."

"_Where's Kageyama?"  
"Working on some weird Lullaby thing, he's apparently got it figured out."  
"Way to go Kageyama! Eisenwald comes out on top again!"_

"Eisenwald!?" Ichigo's eyes widen in surprise as the rest of the group looks between Erza and Ichigo in confusion.

"Yes… that Dark Guild seems to be moving towards something now." Erza says as suddenly everyone understands the gravity of the situation.

"A Dark Guild after some sort of nursery rhyme magic?" Lucy comments confused.

"If it's sealed, it's incredibly powerful and if Eisenwald is after it… nothing can be good." Ichigo crosses his arms looking down as he tries to figure this out in his head.

"I get they're a Dark Guild, but who is Eisenwald?" Naruto inquires curiously.

"Eisenwald took a lot of assassination jobs which led to them being punished by the council and labeled a Dark Guild. They have a lot of strong mages, but I don't know much about them sadly." Erza explains to the best of her abilities as the train stops and they begin to depart with Natsu's eyes beginning to flicker back open.

"What sort've punishment did they endure?" Lucy asks as she grabs her stuff and heads out the train's door alongside Gray. Naruto, Happy, and Erza are right behind them as they head out.

"Their master was detained, and the Guild was ordered to disband." Ichigo chimes up not far behind Lucy and Gray. "Although most Dark Guilds continue on despite the order of disbandment,"

Erza suddenly stomps her foot into the ground breaking apart the concrete. "If I had remembered Eisenwald while I was there, those members would've met my blade."

"Yikes! I think I want to go home…" Lucy mutters to herself as Happy flies around.

"Again?" Happy taunts.

"So what are we going to do? Fight the entire guild?" Naruto scoffs as Erza turns with a dead glare.

"Yes, we're going to march on Eisenwald's guildhall." Erza says blankly with Naruto looking at her like she's crazy.

Lucy begins to look around as the five of them stand around and the train takes off again. "Hey guys… where's Natsu and Luffy?"

Erza, Gray, Happy, Ichigo, and Naruto all turn to the train as it rides off.

"Don't worry, I got him!" Luffy shouts happily holding Natsu by his scarf as they get off the train tracks. "But seriously… you guys nearly left us!"

"I'm so sorry! It was my fault for sure." Erza puts her hands together apologizing loudly. Natsu opens his eyes fully looking better than he did.

"Are we finally off that death contraption?" Natsu whines as he looks around more clearly. "Oh hey guys,"

"So, we're headed for Eisenwald's guildhall?" Ichigo questions readily.

"Yes… we need to move quickly because it seemed that whatever Lullaby is, it's close to being their hands." Erza nods as she begins to put away her things.

"I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm fired up either way!" Natsu declares excited that he could be getting into a battle. Some worried officials run past the group as they go over to a man dressed in a uniform that signifies he's in charge of the railway.

"Sir, it seems someone has attacked the train! We've lost contact with them completely!" One of the panicked individuals' shouts causing the Fairy Tail group to look over.

"Could it be that we just missed them?" Gray comments gritting his teeth.

"A runaway train?" Happy flies around before landing.

"We haven't lost them, we just need to go now!" Erza suddenly shouts jumping and kicking a regular civilian out of their magic vehicle. "Come on!"

"Is this really alright?" Lucy asks apologizing to the civilian who is knocked unconscious.

"Would you rather us let them get away? Come on Lucy, it'll be fun!" Luffy excitedly hops onto the vehicles roof alongside Naruto and Natsu as Gray and Ichigo get into it.

"Okay…" Lucy and Happy hop in as Erza suddenly uses her magic to power the car with it suddenly shooting forward down the railway. Natsu holds his mouth suddenly as Naruto grabs him.

"You're really helpless Natsu…" Naruto sighs as they drive off.

**~On the Train~**

"It's good to see you again Kageyama. Do you have it?" Erigor asks it sinisterly as Kageyama gets out of his seat proudly taking out a flute looking object with a skull on the end.

"Mission accomplished," Kageyama hands it over with Erigor smiling sinisterly.

"Well done Kageyama," A clapping could be heard as DIO enters their train car.

"Master!" Kageyama bows respectfully as DIO smirks. Erigor turns handing DIO the Lullaby flute.

"Perfect. As soon as Buggy is done disposing of the train and Zabuza gets Fairy Tail off our back, our mission will truly begin." DIO begins to laugh to himself as he brushes past Erigor and Kageyama.

"Fairy Tail is here!?" Erigor exclaims in surprise.

"A team assembled by their Titania. As long as we don't let ourselves be outnumbered in fights, we'll be fine especially now that Chad and Kabuto have been recovered." DIO says confidently as his eyes glow purple and he's able to see the Fairy Tail team driving behind the train. "Zabuza is about to make contact,"

**~With Fairy Tail~**

"There it is! We're almost caught up!" Naruto declares as the train begins to come into view.

"Everyone… get ready!" Erza manages to get out while breathing heavily from the massive amount of magic it's taking to keep the car moving with so many people.

"I'll go first!" Luffy suddenly shouts as he extends his arms to both sides of the car.

"Wait Luffy-!" Ichigo tries to grab him as the magical circle appears.

"**Gomu Gomu no Rocket!**" Luffy shoots off the top of the car speeding over the train and quickly falling straight onto one of the middle carts.

"That idiot is gonna get himself killed!" Ichigo angrily says as suddenly an excess amount of mist begins to cloud the railway area. "What?"

"This is going horribly already," Lucy says absolutely scared as she grips her keys.

"Erza, try and get me close to it." Gray suddenly declares as he puts his fist into his other open hand palm.

"I'll… try." Erza grits her teeth as the car accelerates despite the fog. The caboose of the train in front of them finally comes into view again.

"Perfect," A magical circle appears around Grays hand as a cold breath comes out. "**Ice Make: Slide!**" Gray suddenly throws his fist forward as a slide made out of ice appears connecting the car and caboose. Erza lets go of the magic controls on the car as it remains attached.

"Thank you Gray…" Erza sighs to herself as Gray just nods hopping onto the slide and into the caboose.

"Happy, take Natsu to the nearest station!" Naruto tells him throwing Natsu into the car next to Happy as he jumps onto the train.

"Aye sir!" Happy grows out his wings as he grabs onto Natsu and flies off.

"_I feel so useless…"_ Lucy thinks to herself. She makes her way to the front where Ichigo is trying to help Erza onto the train, but she can barely make them out through the mist. "Where did this all come from?"

"I don't know, but as soon as get on—" Ichigo suddenly pulls Erza back as a sword slices through the ice causing the car to become detached throwing backwards and sending it spiraling across the railway.

Lucy looks around barely keeping her eyes open through the pain as she crawls out of the wreckage of the car. "Everybody…"

"Look Haku, somebody actually survived." A man holding a large sword with wraps around his face says as a smaller child stands beside him.

"Yes Lord Zabuza, it does look like she is alive." Haku blankly states. "Do you wish for me to change that?"

Lucy stares horrified, "N-no…"

"Yeah might as well. DIO would be upset if we let her go." Zabuza sighs as Haku suddenly holds up three pointed objects and throws them towards Lucy.

**~With Luffy~**

"Here we go!" Luffy excitedly steps into the train cart he landed in with all the Eisenwald grunts suddenly turning to him.

"Looks like we caught ourselves a fairy after all," One of them taunts as they begin to unsheathe their weapons.

"What is it with bad guys and trains?" Luffy wonders to himself aloud as one of the grunts charges forward trying to slice at Luffy. However, he manages to grab the assailant's wrist and punches him in the gut.

"Damn fairy!" Another grunt snarls at Luffy who just laughs happily.

"Well it was nice to meet you all, but none of you look too interesting. Sorry!" Luffy opens the door to the next cart slamming it behind him as the grunts run at the door trying to get it open. Luffy hurries into the next car and is met by Buggy cleaning off his blood colored knives.

"I'm glad you came fairy; this would've been a very boring mission without some fun." Buggy chuckles as he sits up with Luffy smiling.

"Now you look more interesting. **Gomu Gomu no Pistol!**" Luffy winds up his arm and sends it flying towards Buggy who stands there unbothered as a knife suddenly shoots out from the wall slicing Luffy across the arm causing him to pull it back. "Wh-what?"

Buggy laughs aloud as a severed hand flies out of area the knife was thrown from and reattaches to Buggy's arm. "Are you sure you're ready for this fairy?"

Luffy smiles as he holds the wound. "I'm just getting started,"

**~With Naruto & Gray~**

"Where're the others?" Gray asks Naruto confused as he looks out the caboose seeing the ice broken.

"I don't know; something hit the ice and they went flying." Naruto quickly explains worriedly.

"Dammit, we don't have time for this. We're about to hit the next train stop and then only Natsu will be there…" Gray slams his fist onto the railing. "We're just gonna have to keep going,"

"Eh? Are you sure?" Naruto asks not wanting to leave Erza, Ichigo or Lucy behind.

"We don't have a choice…," Gray grimly says as he runs off into the train with Naruto looking out to the tracks before following after him.

**~With Ichigo, Erza & Lucy~**

As the darts near Lucy, a sudden clash of metal is heard as Ichigo stands in front of her using his sword to block them.

"Zabuza… you're still alive huh?" Ichigo taunts, but his condition is bad as blood drips from his forehead and shoulder.

"Ichigo Kurosaki…" Zabuza growls as he grabs Haku on the shoulder pull him back from attacking. "On second thought, I think I'll take care of this one myself Haku."

"Zabuza?" Haku question confused as Zabuza cracks his neck.

Lucy weakly looks between Zabuza and Ichigo. "Ichigo?"

"Don't worry Lucy, I've got this." Ichigo confidently says as he holds his sword out. "Joining Eisenwald… eh Zabuza? Thought you didn't need any guild."

"It's a working relationship. I kill people, they give me money." Zabuza grins behind his wrapped face. A stillness soon follows as the mist begins to grow thicker.

"_He was the one creating the mist…"_ Lucy realizes looking up at Ichigo who narrows his gaze at Zabuza. Before Ichigo can even react, Zabuza suddenly appears behind him through the mist slicing at Ichigo. His eyes widen and he manages to jump out of the way with Zabuza's sword only grazing him. Ichigo pivots with his foot taking his sword and swinging it at Zabuza who blocks it with his sword.

"Looks like you haven't gotten any stronger Ichigo, shame." Zabuza taunts as suddenly the Zabuza in front of Ichigo explodes with water falling everywhere.

"_A water clone? He has water magic now!?"_ Ichigo thinks to himself as he turns just barely blocking an incoming attack from the real Zabuza. "I gotta say Zabuza, I'm impressed. I took you for a one trick pony with that sword."

"Why you…!" Zabuza growls as they push back against each other's swords.

**~With Luffy~**

"Let me show you the fun we can have with my Detach magic! **Bara Bara Harpoon!**" Buggy suddenly shoots out his hand with a knife in slicing past Luffy's shoulder before reattaching to Buggy's arm. Luffy yelps grimacing as now both his shoulder and arm bleeding from the attacks.

"Wow… so cool! That's some pretty cool magic there." Luffy smiles as he stretches out both his arms grabbing onto the railing. "Too bad my magic doesn't work that well indoors. **Gomu Gomu no Rocket!**" Luffy suddenly propels his body towards Buggy who tries to dodge, but both are sent through the roof of the cart putting them on top of the train. However, as they land Buggy stabs a knife into Luffy's back and pushes off him rolling away. "Gah!"

"You're naïve fairy, my magic works better in the outdoors as well!" Buggy declares suddenly as Luffy who is now breathing heavily from the number of wounds collapses to a knee.

"You'll… never beat a Fairy Tail mage!" Luffy declares barely able to stand.

"I believe I already have dumb fairy! **Bara Bara Cannon!**" Buggy suddenly detaches his whole arm with it being sent at Luffy. Luffy's instincts kick in as he grabs the arm before it can reach him. However, as he does this the hand detaches from the arm slicing across Luffy's side. "You Fairy Tail mages are all the same! Big speeches with nothing to back them up!"

Luffy falls completely unable to keep his legs under him. _"Is this… all I'm capable of?"_ This thought rushes through his head as Buggy nears Luffy laughing as he's ready to kill him. _"No… I can do more. I will be the Guildmaster of Fairy Tail!"_ Luffy pushes himself up back to his feet just barely.

"Oh? You can still stand; that's cute. Let me finish this. **Bara Bara Har**—" Buggy is about to finish his spell when suddenly a magical spell surrounds Luffy. "What!? You can still use magic?!"

"**Gomu Gomu no Shotgun!**" Luffy breaks past his limits creating a new spell as he begins unleashes a regular pistol whip, but suddenly whips arm like a yo-yo causing it to continue to ram into Buggy at high speeds. "Fairy Tail will beat you!" Luffy shouts still hammering in his punches before stopping as Buggy crashes through the ceiling of the train cart completely unconscious. "Man… that was a good fiiiiiight." Luffy suddenly collapses into unconsciousness as well falling over and landing on his face.

**~With Naruto & Gray~**

Naruto and Gray breathe a sigh of relief after finishing a cart full of grunts. "It feels like we're not getting any closer to the front…" Gray points out punching his fist into his palm.

"We'll make it to the front of the train, I'm sure of it!" Naruto says determined as they kick their way into the next cart. They're met by another wave of grunts who turn with their weapons ready. "**Wind Magic: Rasengan!**" Naruto forms the Rasengan in his hands shoving it into the group's weapons breaking them instantly.

"_How he'd do that!?"  
"Fairy Tail is just a regular guild, how are they beating us?"_

"Thinking we're just a regular guild was your first mistake. **Ice Make: Lance!**" Gray suddenly fires out multiple ice lances that curve around the train cart slamming into the grunts and freezing them to the walls. "Like he said, we're going to make our way to the front of this train!"

Naruto smiles jumping past them all before suddenly the roof breaks open and Chad falls into the cart grabbing Naruto and throwing him at Gray. "You shall go no further against my master,"

"You…!" Naruto exclaims in surprise as Gray turns to him confused pushing him off.

"You know this guy?" Gray asks curiously as they stand back up.

"Yeah… Ichigo, Luffy and I fought him and two others a week or so back." Naruto explains to Gray as he readies himself. "According to Ichigo this guy is pretty strong and insanely loyal to DIO, his master."

"DIO…" Gray mutters to himself as Chad stands guard staying true to not letting them get any closer. "Naruto… let me handle this. Converse your magic."

"Gray…" Naruto looks at Gray before nodding. "Got it,"

"Neither of you are getting past me," Chad retorts as his arms are suddenly covered in his armament magic.

Gray puts his close fist in his open palm as a magic circle appears. "Let's put that to the test. **Ice Make: Arrows!**" Suddenly arrows made out of ice are formed in front of Gray and shot forward towards Chad impaling into his arms.

"That all you got?" Chad says charging forward at Gray and punching forward using the air pressure alone to push Gray and Naruto up against the wall that begins to break apart.

Gray smirks, "No… **Ice Make: Hammer!**" It had been a ploy to get Chad under the hole he had popped out of. Suddenly, a full-blown ice hammer is formed slamming into Chad and pushing him through the floor under the train. "Now we can go,"

"Right, good job Gray." Naruto congratulates as they both begin to run forward before suddenly Chad's arm pops out of the floor grabbing a hold of Gray. "Gray!"

"Go on ahead Naruto!" Gray shouts as Chad breaks back into the cart with Naruto hesitating. "GO!"

"Alright… but you better not die you icy idiot!" Naruto turns and runs feeling horrible as he enters the next cart.

"You made me fail the master… you're going to die here." Chad declares angrily as his magic aura begins to encompass his body as Gray kicks out of his grip.

Gray makes his hand formation with a magic circle appearing, "Make me ugly,"

**~Front of the Train~**

"The train is arriving at the station master!" Rayule, another mage of Eisenwald, declares excitedly as the train begins to slow down.

"Perfect… now we can get on our way to Clover Town." DIO says to himself as the train fully stops and the door opens revealing Natsu standing there punching his open palm as fire sparks off it.

Natsu's face tightens together as a terrifying expression is revealed filled with anger, "Eisenwald… is that right?"

DIO smiles sadistically, "Yes, that'd be us Fairy Tail."

"Good, because I'm getting fired up." Natsu's nostrils flair as fire is shot out. "Let's show them how Fairy Tail operates Happy,"

Happy flies onto his shoulder. "Aye sir!"

* * *

**Zabuza vs Ichigo, what is their past!? Chad vs Gray! Natsu vs Eisenwald! Don't miss it, the explosive continuation to this arc!**  
**Next Time: Misty Past!**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm so blown away by all the massive support this series has been getting through reviews! Thank you all so much! I'd love to hear what characters from Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, and Fairy Tail that you wanna see in upcoming arcs!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Misty Past**

Natsu stands in front of DIO, Erigor, and a majority of the Eisenwald Dark Guild. "Uh… that's a lot of people."

"They're all enemies Natsu!" Happy chirps next to him.

Natsu smiles, "I figured that and it's getting me excited!"

"So you wish to take my guild on? I must warn you… we are quite strong." DIO glares at Natsu who pauses realizing that the man in front of him was the Guildmaster of Eisenwald.

Natsu grins widely, "You better be, I'm coming through!" Natsu suddenly charges forward with his hand lighting on fire.

DIO motions for Rayule to step forward as suddenly black mummy-like threads fall out of Rayule's hand. "**Urumi: Bind!**" The threads suddenly shoot out towards Natsu wrapping around his body as it begins to cover his body fully.

"**Fire Dragon's…**" Natsu builds up his magical power as a circle appears. "**ROAR!**" Fire streams out of Natsu's mouth burning the threads completely.

"A Dragon Slayer…?" DIO licks his lips as he steps out of the train along with Erigor, Kageyama, Rayule and a large number of grunts.

"Why did you stop?" Natsu punches his fist giving a glare to the Eisenwald Guild members in front of him. "I'm just getting fired up!"

DIO's eyes widen as his interest grows. "Interesting!"

**~With Gray~**

"Make me ugly…" Gray's magical circle suddenly enlarges as he breathes out with being visible from how cold the train car has suddenly gotten. "**Ice Make: Lance!**" The battle starts anew as ice lances fly out of Gray's magical circle hurdling themselves towards Chad.

Chad stomps his foot down standing his ground as a magical circle appears around his arms. "**Fullbring Magic: 50% Takeover!**" The black and red armored skin suddenly flows down his legs as well with his raising his legs kicking the lances out of the air.

"So you were hiding some sort of power up…" Gray sighs as he puts his hands together again.

"Like I'd let you attack again!" Chad suddenly shoots forward shoving his arms into Gray's stomach with incredible force sending Gray ricocheting throughout the train car. Gray just barely manages to get his bearings as Chad throws his leg down nearly hitting him in the head as he rolls off to the side. "I won't let you destroy Master DIO's dreams!"

"Even if those dreams are corrupt and evil?" Gray struggles to stand to his feet. "Because, I feel the same! To protect Fairy Tail and my comrades, I'm even willing to die, so I can't lose to you here!"

"As if a fairy like you could ever understand. The preppy nature of official guilds and how they look down on Dark Guilds…" Chad growls as he charges forward.

"Like I said, I'm not losing here!" Gray suddenly jumps towards Chad ducking under his punch as he puts hands together. "**Ice Make: Sword!**"

"Wh-what!?" Chad shouts as Gray slices upward with his sword made out of ice cutting through Chad's skin as Gray passes by him. Chad stands in there stunned as he looks down at the wound on his chest before falling to his knees. "To think… I would be pushed this far by a fairy rat…"

"That's Fairy Tail, don't forget it." Gray begins to walk past Chad who grabs a hold of his coat.

"I'm… not done yet." Chad grabs onto anything he can pulling himself up.

"What is this crazy stamina?!" Gray shouts in surprise as Chad punches him into the door. Gray quickly gets an idea as he opens a door quickly placing his fist in his palm of his hands.

"You can't run!" Chad pushes on forward as Gray glares at him.

"I'm not. **Ice Make: Battle Axe!**" Gray suddenly spins slicing the connection keeping the carts together.

"You…!" Chad collapses as the cart they were in goes to a screeching stop with Chad still inside it.

Gray takes a step forward intending to continue before stumbling, "I used up too much magic in that attack, but I need to catch up to Natsu and Naruto." He pushes onward running forward with his remaining strength.

**~With Ichigo, Lucy & Erza~**

Lucy watches worriedly as Zabuza and Ichigo clash their swords together as suddenly darts go whizzing past Lucy's hair.

"You will be my opponent," Haku prepares for another barrage charging towards Lucy as her eyes widen.

"E-eh?!" Lucy suddenly begins to back up quickly grabbing a key off her ring. "**Open the Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!**" A magical circle appears around Lucy as suddenly a giant muscular bull appears before her holding a battle axe. "Get them Taurus!"

"MOOO AYE LUCY!" Taurus puffs out smoke from his nose as he charges at Haku. Taurus swings his axe with a wide attack as Haku ducks under suddenly delivering a lot of quick jabs into his stomach. "MOO!"

"Lord Zabuza will not be bothered," Haku retorts as he suddenly jumps kicking straight into Taurus's throat.

"Taurus!" Lucy cries out worriedly.

Meanwhile Ichigo and Zabuza clash in the thick of the fog.

"Lucy…?" Ichigo gets distracted for a split second as he can hear her attacks. Zabuza capitalizes on this slamming his sword into Ichigo's back. Ichigo however ducks under the rest of the attack avoiding being cut in two.

"**Water Magic: Wave Crash!**" Zabuza suddenly has a magical circle appear before him as a wave of water comes shooting out of his hands ramming into Ichigo's side. Ichigo quickly slams his sword into the ground stopping himself before he's dragged off the tracks. He then charges Zabuza swiping at the mist with nothing being there.

"_This mist… I'm not sure if I can win at this point unless something is done about it."_ Ichigo thinks to himself worriedly as he holds his sword out in front of him. "Why're you hiding Zabuza, afraid I might get in a solid hit again?"

"You may won back then. I'm hiding now because I can feel something under your sword magic now… you're not going all out." Zabuza points out from behind Ichigo. Ichigo turns throwing a punch in the direction of the voice while swinging his sword around with his other arm. However, both attacks only hit the mist. "You're holding back something,"

"_How does he know? But I can't use that magic here… Erza and Lucy would be in danger if I did."_ Ichigo thinks to himself trying to figure out a strategy as Zabuza suddenly lunges out of the mist with the intention to stab into Ichigo's back. Suddenly, a blur of red and silver appears behind Ichigo blocking Zabuza's attack and quickly slicing him across the arm.

"You're going to need to try harder than that to kill a member of Fairy Tail," Erza stands there in her Heart Kreuz base armor having just landed a successful attack on Zabuza.

"Titania of Fairy Tail!" Zabuza jumps back with eyes wide with fear.

"Thank you Erza," Ichigo repositions himself alongside her.

"Don't let yourself be caught off guard like that again Ichigo…" Erza warns as suddenly Lucy comes flying out from the side falling to their feet bloodied and beaten as Haku walks over to Zabuza's side.

"Good work Haku," Zabuza congratulates him as he places his sword out. "However, when dealing with Erza of Fairy Tail, I'm going to need your magic."

"Lucy…" Ichigo's eyes fill with a burning fire of hatred as his sword suddenly disappears. "Go Erza. Take Lucy and catch up to the others. I've got this."

"Ichigo…" Erza has never seen such intense emotion coming from him before as she picks up Lucy. "Beat him."

Ichigo nods as Erza starts running off as Haku suddenly sprints forward, but Ichigo kicks him across the face sending him sprawling towards Zabuza. "You wanted me to go all out right Zabuza?!" An overwhelming magical aura begins to overflow out of Ichigo as a magical circle appears around him. "Well here it is. **Holy Arrow!**" A blue bow created completely out of magic takes form in his hand as he strings back the first magic arrow. "Just so you know… I don't know how to hold this back, but what for what you did to Lucy… I wouldn't anyways."

**~With Natsu~**

Natsu ducks under Rayule's Urumi attacks as he powers up his flames knocking a large portion of the grunts over and into various columns with a simple strike. "**Fire Dragon's Claw!**" He suddenly boosts forward kicking into Rayule with his flames clamping down on his sides sending him flying backwards.

"Rayule! Damn fairy!" Kageyama cries out from the sidelines as DIO watches with absolute pleasure.

"Master, we should be going." Erigor suddenly breaks DIO's concentration with him nodding.

"Yes, there is always a next time. Bye fairy." DIO sadly says as Erigor's wind magic creates a magical circle under them and the two begin to fly off.

"Hey! You aren't going anywhere!" Natsu cries out as suddenly a shadowy hand bursts out of Natsu's shadow punching him across the face.

"Neither are you," Kageyama growls as shadow hands appear all around him while Rayule starts to barely get up with his Urumi stretching out.

Natsu looks between the two before suddenly Kageyama's shadows push forward and Rayule's Urumi begins to shoot forward with the intention to wrap around Natsu. Natsu jumps and rolls out of the way of the attacks putting his hand up to his mouth. "**Fire Dragon's Roar!**" A stream of flame rolls out of Natsu's mouth hitting into the cluster of magic stopping their attacks for now.

A grin suddenly appears on Rayule's face as he begins to laugh. "It's set Kageyama,"

"Eh? Huh? Why are you smiling!?" Natsu shouts confused as Rayule continues to grin.

"It's good I wasn't fighting in close quarters; this is my true strength! **Urumi: Cascade!**" Suddenly the Urumi bands split open the ground as they had burrowed under the fighting area catching Natsu off guard. "Now Kageyama!"

"**Shadow Orochi!**" Kageyama has a magic circle appear under him as his shadows begin to form into around twenty snakes extending towards Natsu. His eyes widen as he tries to jump out of the way of the attack, but the snakes change direction continuing to follow Natsu.

"**Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!**" Natsu lights his fist aflame as he strikes into multiple snakes smiling widely before suddenly those, he didn't hit come around from the side biting into his shoulders. "AHH!" Purple veins begin to shoot across Natsu as he screams louder in pain.

"One fairy down. Good job Rayu-"

"**Wind Magic: Rasengan!**" Naruto suddenly shoves a Rasengan into Kageyama's back throwing into the ground and skidding across the concrete causing his magic to disappear.

"Another fairy!? That means Buggy and Zabuza…" Rayule grits his teeth worriedly as Naruto leaps down throw Natsu's arm around his shoulder.

"A little lesson for you, Fairy Tail will never lose!" Naruto declares openly as he jumps up setting Natsu down to heal. "You tried to take down my friend, what is Eisenwald after?!"

Rayule grins sadistically as his Urumi begins to retract. "You'll never know. **Urumi: Disap**-" Suddenly ice shoots along the ground shooting up Rayule and freezing him completely in place.

"He asked a question…" A very injured Gray retorts stepping out of the train and towards Natsu and Naruto. "What is Eisenwald planning to do with Lullaby!?"

"You'll never stop them now… the plan is too far ahead." Rayule retorts as the ice creeps closer and he growls. "Fine! What the master wants… what we're going to achieve today… is the end of guilds as we know it."

"What!?" Gray shouts in surprise.

"What do you mean by that?!" Naruto demands as in the background Natsu picks himself up and motions for Happy.

"Lullaby, one of the great dark magics made by Zeref! Whoever hears it instantly dies! Today, Lord DIO shall use that wonderful magic to destroy the Guildmasters!" Rayule declares sadistically with Naruto and Gray's eyes widening.

"Blah, blah!" Natsu suddenly shouts with Happy clinging onto his shoulder. "If you really think I'm gonna let you kill the old man, then you're in for a rude awakening! Let's go Happy!"

"Aye sir!" Happy suddenly grows out his wings grabbing onto Natsu's back. "MAX SPEED!" Happy shoots off into the sky with Natsu heading after Erigor and DIO.

"Natsu!" Naruto shouts in worry as Gray suddenly collapses to the floor.

"Naruto… you need to follow him. You can't let Lullaby be unleashed onto this world!" Gray grabs Naruto by the shoulders. "You understand!?"

Naruto shakes him off, "Yeah, I got it Gray." He takes a step forward. "I don't get serious often, but Master Makarov has done so much for me… I won't let him down." Naruto races off as fast as he can to catch up with Natsu.

Rayule begins to laugh despite being frozen. "You're all delusional if you think you even come close to Lord DIO's power!"

Gray gets up and punches him across the face as the rest of his body begins to freeze. "No… we're Fairy Tail!"

* * *

**Naruto vs Erigor! Ichigo vs Zabuza's finale! DIO makes his move!**  
**Next Time: Lullaby's Finale!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here we are, the finale to the Eisenwald arc! I sincerely hope y'all do enjoy this chapter because I spent pretty much all of last night writing it. Cut it pretty close on the release lol! Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Lullaby's Finale**

Zabuza's eyes widen and Haku takes a step back as the magical pressure begins to pour out of Ichigo's new magic, Holy Arrow!

"He was holding back… this much power!?" Zabuza exclaims in complete disbelief as Ichigo smirks a little.

"Lord Zabuza?" Haku looks at him trembling.

"Haku, activate your magic." Zabuza regretfully admits he can't take down Ichigo by himself as Haku nods getting in front of Zabuza.

"Sure, I'll give you guys a head start." Ichigo retorts honestly just hoping whatever magic it is, it keeps Haku out of his blast area, so he doesn't have to kill the kid.

"Don't get full of yourself," Haku suddenly says as he then glares at Ichigo. "I still have to repay you for what you did to my master back then. **Ice Magic: Mirror Prison!**" Suddenly the moisture in the air from all the mist sharpens and becomes hard ice mirrors floating around Ichigo. Haku jumps into the mirror suddenly being reflected across all of them as if he was cloned.

Ichigo casually draws back the blue magic bow string with an arrow suddenly appearing there. He lets go with the magic arrow slamming straight through one of the mirrors hitting Haku dead on as he falls to the floor unconscious. "While normally that move would've confused me, this magic allows me see the magic power of a mage. I knew exactly where you were."

"One shot!?" Zabuza was watching this happen beginning to feel a terrifying feeling from within the pit of his stomach.

"That was me actively attempting to hold back with everything in me. You won't get the same treatment." Ichigo turns stringing another magic arrow as Zabuza suddenly charges at him intending to destroy the bow before it could fire.

"**Water Magic: Dragon Sword Slash!**" Zabuza gathers all his magic together with a large magic circle appearing around his sword as a form of a dragon's head began to appear from the water surrounding it. Ichigo jumps back just narrowly avoiding the attack as it crashes into the groundbreaking up the rails.

"**Holy Arrow: Compound Shot!**" Ichigo's arrow suddenly thins out as it's fired hitting into Zabuza as a major concussive force is felt throwing him into the ground and causing him to skid across the rails. Zabuza was beaten as he lays there with no magic power and a massive injury on his chest. Ichigo stumbles also nearly out of magic power as his bow fades. "I… win…" Ichigo begins to walk off.

"Wait! Just let me know this… when we last fought… you were protecting my targets. Why…?" Zabuza manages to get out recalling the past as Ichigo stops and turns to look at Zabuza.

"Targets…" Ichigo mutters to himself. "It's because they were my sisters…"

"'Were'?" Zabuza gets out in surprise and Ichigo just looks down and begins to walk off doing his best to stay standing.

"Yuzu and Karin died two years ago," Ichigo tells him as he walks off and the mist begins to disappear.

**~With Gray~**

Gray stumbles after punching out Rayule. _"My magic is almost used up, I won't be any use to Natsu and Naruto now…"_ He makes it back over to the train sitting down and sighing to himself as civilians begins to crowd the area surprised by the amount of damage done to the landscape.

"Gray!" Erza suddenly shouts carrying Luffy on her shoulder as Lucy limps alongside her.

"Erza! What happened to you guys? Where's Ichigo?" Gray looks at everyone confused that Ichigo isn't with them.

"He'll be catching up to us. We severely underestimated Eisenwald's prowess." Erza growls laying Luffy down as she breathes out. "Where's Natsu and Naruto?"

"Catching up the Guildmaster, the guy has the Lullaby magic." Gray explains turning and pointing towards where they had run off. "I'm out of magic otherwise I'd be going after them too,"

"Keep watch over Luffy and Lucy, I'm going after them." Erza suddenly declares charging forward and running off down the tracks.

"Wait Erza!" Gray shouts with Erza stopping and turning to Gray. "That magic, Lullaby, whoever hears it instantly dies! They're planning to use it on the council and the Guildmasters!"

Erza stands there as suddenly a fiery rage begins to swell within her. "I'll take care of it then," Erza runs off. _"Master… I won't let you die today!"_

**~With Natsu~**

"Get back here!" Natsu shouts out as him and Happy soar through the skies with DIO and Erigor coming into view. DIO turns seductively licking his lips as he sees Natsu pursuing him.

"The Dragon Slayer is hot on our heels Erigor," DIO watches as Erigor has a magic circle appear around his arm with a blast of air shooting forward towards Natsu.

"Natsu, look out!" Happy shouts doing his best to maneuver out of the attack.

"Don't worry Happy, just get me close! **Fire Dragon's Roar!**" Natsu breathes the fire out in front of them towards the attack causing it to mix with the wind and dissipate the attack.

"We need to keep going Lord DIO! We can't let this bug interfere." Erigor growls angrily as he tries to amp up the power behind his wind magic when DIO suddenly grabs him on the shoulder.

"Set me down. I will deal with Fairy Tail." DIO suddenly states with Erigor's eyes growing wide as DIO hands over the Lullaby.

"Master… you're going to concern yourself with this filth?" Erigor was in complete surprise as he lowers the two of them to the ground.

"Eh? Natsu, they landed!" Happy informs him as they land as well.

"Looks like they're finally ready to get serious!" Natsu grins getting into a wide stance as his hands ignite with flames.

"Lord DIO, please, let me take care of this trash." Erigor steps out in front swinging his scythe around.

"No, the retribution of the council and the masters are what's most important. Go, Erigor, now." DIO glares at him with that final command with Erigor stepping back and summoning wind underneath him again.

"Please be safe Lord DIO…" He takes off to the skies.

"Hey wait a minute!" Natsu calls out preparing a spell when suddenly a dagger flies past his head almost cutting into him.

"Your fight is with me Dragon Slayer," DIO declares as he begins walking towards Natsu.

"Natsu… I have a really bad feeling about this." Happy whispers over to him as Natsu just begins walking forward as well.

"Just stay back Happy, let me handle this." Natsu pounds his fists together erupting them in flames again as he suddenly charges forward. "**Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!**" DIO just stands there as Natsu hurdles himself at him when suddenly he sidesteps Natsu's attack causing him to go flying past him. "Eh?"

"Come now Salamander, surely you have more in you than that?" DIO taunts as Natsu's nostrils flare.

"**Fire Dragon's Roar!**" Natsu turns breathing a stream of fire at DIO that should definitely connect due to the large radius of the attack. The flames begin to dial down as DIO's figure could be seen in the midst of the flames. "Alright! A direct hit!"

"You disappoint me…" The flames suddenly are pushed away from DIO as he walks out of the flames completely undamaged. "I thought Fairy Tail was made of sterner stuff?" Natsu growls at that.

"Don't mock me!" Natsu shouts charging at DIO and trying to punch at him rapidly with him easily avoiding each strike.

"Erigor was right. You are just a bug." DIO suddenly turns around punching Natsu in the chest with the air escaping his lungs as he's thrown into a nearby rock.

"NATSU!" Happy cries out running over to him.

"I haven't even used my magic yet and you're easily beaten by me. How pathetic of a legal guild." DIO taunts as he stands there before beginning to walk over to Happy and Natsu. Natsu grips his knees pushing into a very hobbled over standing position. "How unsightly…"

"Don't… look down… on Fairy Tail!" Natsu manages to get out through deep breathes as he takes notice that his magic power is nearly gone.

"Why would I even look at worms like you?" DIO replies with Natsu angrily pounding his hands together.

"Please Natsu, we need to run!" Happy shouts towards him with Natsu charging what he has left of his magic power.

"I'm… not finished yet Happy!" Natsu's magic power swells with DIO looking on with an absolute boredom replacing his interested demeanor before. Natsu blazes forward covering his hands in fire.

"Your attack won't hit me…" DIO says confidently as Natsu charges forward and instead of trying to hit him, Natsu grabs onto DIO's coat.

"I wasn't trying to! **Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!**" Natsu suddenly boosts the fire in his hands as he throws DIO over his shoulder causing him to go flying towards a boulder which he smashes into. "That right there is the power of Fairy Tail!" Natsu then falls to his knees completely exhausted from the amount of magic power used.

"Well then… I'm disappointed." DIO steps out of the boulder completely unscathed aside from his shirt being torn.

"N-no way…" Happy began to have tears in his eyes as he runs over to Natsu and DIO rolls his neck around.

"You're unworthy of my magic," DIO declares beginning to walk towards Natsu and Happy with a dagger in hand.

"**Clone Magic: Triple!**" Suddenly three different Naruto's charge forward attacking DIO who blocks the attack with ease slicing through the clones as Naruto stands over Natsu and Happy.

"Another fairy…" DIO grumbles to himself.

"Naruto!" Happy exclaims happily.

"Natsu… you really think you can beat Erza like that!?" Naruto shouts sternly as he gets into a fighting stance. "She would be sad to see you in that state, so pick yourself up!"

Natsu grins punching the ground as he pushes himself back up. "Yeah, you're right! Let's beat this guy!" Happy then suddenly flies up hitting Natsu over the head.

"No we're not! We need to catch that other guy who has the Lullaby!" Happy shouts with Natsu and Naruto both rubbing their heads groaning.

"You're right… Happy take Naruto to catch up." Natsu suddenly says with Naruto looking at him like he's lost it.

"Natsu you barely have any magic power left and this guy already beat you once!" Naruto began to summon his magic power up to the surface. "I've got plenty, let me do it!"

"No, this is my fight! Besides, I think I figured out his trick!" Natsu grins puffing fire out of his nose as he stomps feet down.

"F-fine!" Naruto shouts realizing that he was leaving his comrade again as Happy picks up from his back and the two begin to fly up. Naruto wipes his face trying to hold back his tears of regret.

"Naruto?" Happy questions as Naruto forces it back again.

"Let's go Happy. We can't…" Naruto stops wondering if what he's doing is right.

"Naruto… Natsu can handle himself. He's strong and I'm sure he'll figure out the enemy's magic to beat them!" Happy says confidently with Naruto wiping his face once more before nodding.

"Yeah!"

**~With Gray, Lucy & Luffy~**

Luffy begins to groan as his eyes flutter open as he lets out a big and loud yawn. "That was a nice nap!"

"You were unconscious, you idiot!" Gray shouts in surprise that Luffy is awake.

"Will you two keep it down!?" Lucy angrily retorts looking out onto the tracks. Gray and Luffy both notice what she's looking for as Gray puts his head down.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Luffy looks between the two completely confused as to the situation as he missed all the important bits.

"Natsu, Naruto and Erza went after Eisenwald's Guildmaster. But Erza and Natsu have almost run out of magic…" Gray explains to him feeling useless from being unable to help.

"Well let's catch up then!" Luffy suddenly declares with Lucy and Luffy looking at him crazily.

"You nearly just died, you're in no shape to-!" Lucy is about to argue when Luffy stands up.

"I know that, but our friends are fighting! Even if we just have a little magic power left, it's still something to help them!" Luffy says confidently as he takes off running.

Lucy watches him go, "He's crazy…"

"No, he's right." Gray pushes himself into a stand position. "Come on Lucy, let's go."

"_These people really are completely crazy…"_ Lucy thinks to herself as her and Gray take off running to catch up to Luffy.

**~With Natsu~**

"You think you've figured everything out, eh little salamander?" DIO licks his lips as he begins to walk towards Natsu. "Show me!"

Natsu pounds his fists together with flames igniting in both hands as a smile crosses his face. "When you stopped my flames earlier, I thought it was weird you didn't get hurt at all. Then when I grabbed you earlier it felt weird that I had grabbed something else too." He suddenly points at DIO with a wide grin. "You're using Stand Spirit Magic, aren't you?"

DIO's annoyed face suddenly turns into one of pleasure. "Yes… how did you know? I don't take you for one to understand different magics."

"You're right on that!" Natsu says happily. "However, I take time to know my guildmate's magics. One guildmate also uses Stand Spirit Magic, so now I know how to beat you!"

"Is that so? Then I guess there is no use hiding behind mystery." DIO then strikes a rather bizarre pose. "**Stand Magic: The World!**" Suddenly next to DIO, a translucent golden being appears there in a fighting stance. "I haven't let someone see my magic in over 10 years… show me what you have left salamander."

Natsu grins as he suddenly charges forward boosting himself forward with his flames. The World punches down right in front of him with Natsu narrowly avoiding the attack as he puts his hand up to his mouth. "**Fire Dragon's Roar!**" Natsu jumps past the Stand and streams fire onto DIO throwing him back. "I'm not done yet!" DIO watches with an interest gleam in his eyes as the Stand suddenly turns kicking Natsu over the head.

"**The World: Time Stop!**" DIO suddenly activates a magical power as a circle appears around him looking more like a clock than a regular magical circle as time around him completely stops. DIO takes a few steps forward looking at Natsu and crouching down to be eye level with him. "Yes… you really are that. To think you'd have joined Fairy Tail… it's most interesting indeed. I'll let you have this victory Natsu Dragneel, although you won't know that. **The World: Time Resume!**" Time suddenly kicks back into gear as Natsu sprawls out across the ground growling.

"Alright, you've really done it this time! **Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!**" Natsu suddenly bursts into flames shooting himself forward like a cannon and head-butting straight into DIO's stomach sending him flying into the ground! Natsu stands victoriously as he throws his hand in the air. "YEAAAH! I DID IT!" Before suddenly falling over and passing out from the complete usage of his magical power. DIO stands up brushing himself off as his Stand retreats into him.

"Not yet little salamander…" DIO then takes out a dagger turning in a sharp motion to block a silver sword from Erza Scarlet. "Titania of Fairy Tail… I'm happy to make your acquaintance!"

"What did you do to Natsu!?" Erza shouts angrily pushing into DIO with her sword as the two powerhouse's magical powers conflict.

"Him? Oh, I was about to kill him of course." DIO lies, but it's convincing enough as Erza begins to release her magical power. "Now Kabuto…" Erza's eyes widen as suddenly Kabuto jumps out from the ground landing multiple strikes on Erza's arms and legs.

"You had backup, even all the way out here!?" Erza was shocked as she struggles to hold her arm up realizing that Kabuto had hit her nerves.

"**Body Magic: Nerve Pain Times Ten!**" A magical circle suddenly appears around Erza's injuries increasing their pain tenfold causing her to cry out loud and fall down to her knees.

"Excellent Kabuto, now let's take our leave." DIO suddenly says turning and beginning to walk away with Kabuto still standing there. "Kabuto?"

"I live to serve you Lord DIO, but to kill Erza Scarlet… I can't pass up on that opportunity." Kabuto pushes up his glasses walking over and sending a kick towards Erza. However, her arm suddenly reaches out blocking the attack and grabbing onto Kabuto's leg.

"I… won't let you get away with what you've done!" Erza begins to squeeze Kabuto's leg with it feeling like it's about to snap.

"L-Let go! **Body Magic: Nerve Pain Times One Hundred!**" Kabuto expends almost all of his magic as the nerve pain is increased a hundredfold causing Erza to cry out in pain as it feels like her body is rapidly disintegrating while on fire.

"I'm Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail! I will endure any pain if it means protecting my comrades!" Erza shouts as she manages to grab hold of her silver sword slicing Kabuto across the chest with it causing him to fall back. Erza manages to look around realizing DIO was suddenly missing.

"ERZA!" Lucy shouts suddenly as her, Luffy, and Gray could be seen running towards her.

"Everyone…" Erza smiles happily before suddenly falling to her knees as the pain dissipates from the defeated Kabuto.

**~With Naruto~**

"Finally… the magic council…" Erigor grins sadistically as he arrives just outside the very large and secluded building. "Today we finally get our revenge for-!"

"SHUT UP!" Naruto suddenly shouts as him and Happy come rocketing in with Naruto kicking him across the face as they fly past him.

"Fairy Tail!?" Erigor lets out in surprise as he holds his jaw in pain.

"I said shut up! I'm going to break you apart for what you did to my guild today!" Naruto shouts angrily as thoughts begin to rush through his head from Ichigo, Erza and Lucy being separated, to leaving Gray, to leaving Natsu… Naruto's rage begins to be felt as Happy jumps off his back.

"N-Naruto…?" Happy looks at him worriedly.

"You're just one small brat in my way towards finally getting my revenge and fulfilling Lord DIO's plans! I will not fall to your pitiful resolve!" Erigor suddenly slings around his scythe charging at Naruto and swinging it towards his chest.

"**Clone Magic!**" Naruto suddenly shouts as a single clone appears behind him pulling him out of the attack range of Erigor's scythe. "Your Guild kills others! Takes away their lives from their families! My Guild was hurt from your resolve, so let me show you my way, my resolve!" Naruto suddenly jumps off the balls of his feet. "**Wind Magic: Rasengan!**" Naruto forms the Rasengan in his hand as Erigor's worried face suddenly turns into a smile as the Rasengan suddenly dissipates in Naruto's hand. "Wh-what!?"

"You really got a bad match up kid. I'm the master of wind magic, your attacks won't hit me." Erigor suddenly says with a confident air about him as a magical circle appears. "**Wind Magic: Storm Shred!**" Suddenly blasts of air are sent out from Erigor's scythe like sharp blades cutting into Naruto and causing him immense pain as Happy flies for cover.

"NARUTOO!" Happy shouts worriedly as he hides behind a nearby tree. Naruto is flung back as the spell ends with multiple cuts going across his legs and arms and chest with him pushing himself back up.

"Don't worry Happy, I can do this." Naruto assures him as he begins to limp forward.

"Naruto stop! Your spells don't work against him! Just wait for Erza, Ichigo or the others to catch up!" Happy was nearly crying as he watches his friend put up a thumbs up.

"My resolve is to never go back on my word! I'm going to beat this guy for sure, just you watch!" Naruto declares with Happy looking at him in awe.

"Beat me? That's rich coming from the mage who can barely stand after just one of my many attacks." Erigor holds in a laugh as he glares at Naruto. "Who do you think you're fooling?"

"Natsu, Ichigo, Gray, and the others are all counting on me! I'm not going to lose here!" Naruto declares putting his hand together as a magic circle appears. "**Clone Magic: Quadruple!**" Four clones appear next to Naruto as they ready themselves dinging their heels into the ground before suddenly charging towards Erigor. The first Naruto jumps over Erigor beginning a barrage of kicks which Erigor grabs and throws into the ground with it erupting smoke as the clone disappears. The second and third Naruto rushes forward as the real Naruto begins to summon his magical power along with the fourth clone. The second clone jumps onto Erigor's scythe kicking into him just as the third one kicks into his knees.

"Enough! **Wind Magic: Scythe Hurricane!**" Erigor suddenly turns at blinding speeds as piercing wind it pushed out cutting through both clones. Erigor turns back towards the regular Naruto. "Now it's time for you-!"

"Too late! **Wind Magic: Massive Rasengan!**" Naruto suddenly shouts as him and the clone finish creating a massive Rasengan slamming it into Erigor with the two magic energies clashing sending through multiple trees and into the ground!

"You did it Naruto! I always had total faith in you!?" Happy flies around Naruto's head happily as Naruto lets out a sigh of relief.

"Hey wait, what was all that about waiting for Erza or Gray!?" Naruto flares up angrily as Happy facepalms.

"Erza and Ichigo! You have a worse memory than a goldfish…" Happy giggles to himself as Naruto sighs as he begins walking over to Erigor searching for the Lullaby and finding it stuffed in his coat.

"Well at least this is over," Naruto breathes another sigh of relief mainly from exhaustion.

"Aye!"

Soon afterwards, the Magic Council's guard would have discovered Naruto and Erigor's fight with Makarov coming out and congratulating him on saving the day. The rest of the team would catch up around then as well all looking worse for wear, but they had done it. They beat Eisenwald despite DIO escaping, he was the only notable mage to have done so thanks to the efforts of Fairy Tail! The scene cuts back to Ichigo with Makarov as they just return back to Fairy Tail.

"So you fought Zabuza again eh?" Makarov asks with Ichigo standing there solemnly.

"Yeah…"

"I'm sorry, it must've brought up your past again." Makarov hops off his seat placing a hand on Ichigo's shoulder.

"It's been almost two years since they died… I'm sure it'll never get easier, but…" Ichigo looks down from the second floor looking down at Natsu, Gray, Luffy, and Naruto arguing over how many people they took down while Lucy tries to break up their fight and Erza stands off to the side watching. "…Fairy Tail is still my family as well. With them, maybe it will get easier."

* * *

**Erza vs Ichigo & Natsu! Ino says something mean to Sakura, so she wants new work alongside somebody manly, strong... like Elfman!**  
**Next Time: The Strongest Forehead!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright to start off with, I am sorry for missing two consecutive weeks of chapters! Thanksgiving and a lot of personal projects began to take hold that I couldn't neglect. However, thanks to the break I was able to hear your criticism and was able to take a few more steps to making this a better series! Hopefully you all enjoy this next arc!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Strongest Forehead!**

It's been a full day since the battle against Eisenwald! Just as things begin to settle though, a condition has to be met!

Lucy sits in her new apartment thinking about the events from the past week. Her joining Fairy Tail, saving Macao, the Daybreak, and now beating Eisenwald. But now, she returns to her writings with a letter addressed to her Mother. _"This week has really been exciting! I finally joined Fairy Tail, yes that Fairy Tail! Things got pretty hectic really quick when we had to take down a Dark Guild name Eisenwald. Everybody from the group has been arrested according to reports aside from their master DIO, it seems he got away. But I'm not worried! After all, I'm part of Fairy Tail's strongest team with Natsu, Erza, Gray, Ichigo, Naruto, and Luffy! Plus that cat too, I guess. You really don't need to worry about me Mother, Love Lucy."_ Lucy sighs aloud leaning back into her chair. "Nothing beats writing in my own home…"

"Yeah, I agree. This place is pretty comfy!" Gray suddenly comments with Lucy turning and freaking out to see him sitting there half-naked still. "You found a nice place Lucy!"

"TRESPASSER!" Lucy shouts grabbing her shoe and beginning to hit Gray with him putting up his arms in defense. "Don't take your clothes off in my home!" Lucy then suddenly round-house kicks him across the face with him falling to the floor.

"Hey, hey, calm down. I took off my clothes before I came in." Gray sighs rubbing the back of his head.

"Just leave!" Lucy points to the door in a huff as Gray stands up beginning to head that way.

"Anyways, I came over here to remind you that 'that' is happening today. I thought you might've forgotten." Gray pouts with Lucy trying to remember what he's talking about as suddenly a light bulb goes off in her head. "See? I knew you forgot."

"Come on, let's go!" Lucy then suddenly charges out the door grabbing Gray as they run off.

**~At Fairy Tail~**

"I can't believe it's actually happening," Naruto mutters to himself inside the guild hall sitting next to Luffy.

"After that fight against Eisenwald… I realize where I sit in all of this. I would be no match for Erza." Luffy openly admits to Naruto clenching his fist as he was practically useless aside from beating Buggy. He feels the intense need to prove himself and train after what had happened.

"To be honest, I probably wouldn't be much against her either. If my Rasengan wasn't such a powerful magic attack, I wouldn't have won against Erigor." Naruto lays his back against the bench as his eyes begin to wander before landing on a pink haired member of Fairy Tail. "Sakura!"

The pink haired Fairy Tail member takes a look at Naruto before sighing and looking away. "Wow, cold-hearted!" Luffy comments with Naruto pushing him away as he runs over.

"Sakura, how did your mission go!?" Naruto asks excitedly as Sakura just holds her head down.

"It went great! Right, Sakura?" Ino suddenly appears behind Sakura throwing her arm around Sakura's neck like an old friend would except Sakura just flinches at it.

"Y-yeah…" Sakura mutters with Ino grinning and walking off.

"Sakura…?" Naruto looks at her with a growing concern for his friend, but she just walks away. Luffy walks up behind Naruto worriedly.

"Is everything alright?" He asks with an odd concern in his voice.

"Sakura usually is happy to see me after her missions; we've been friends for years. But just then… she barely even looked at me." Naruto pauses before turning to Luffy. "It's probably about to start, right? We should get going."

"Yeah!" Luffy suddenly gets pumped out as the two rush outside seeing that a large majority of Fairy Tail and regular citizens were already crowded around for the event. Lucy and Gray suddenly come rushing in next two Luffy and Naruto.

"Did we miss it?" Gray asks worriedly.

"Nope, and you still have time to place your bets!" Cana shouts from the sidelines chugging her barrel of bear and having a tally of bets on the three fighters. Lucy pushes her way to the front to see Ichigo, Natsu, and Erza standing off.

"This is crazy! Is it really alright for Fairy Tail's strongest members to go head-to-head like this?" Lucy asks with extreme worry as Gray pops in next to her laughing.

"Strongest? Who told you that?" Gray laughs a bit with Mirajane suddenly tearing up. "You told her!?"

"I just thought you guys teaming up was a great idea!" Mirajane sobs as Elfman places his hand on his sister's shoulder.

"Weren't you the one that was worried about them getting along?" Lucy mutters to herself realizing she's been had. "So if they're not the strongest, who is?"

"Well in terms of strongest female, Erza is probably the strongest." Naruto retorts coming up into the conversation along with Luffy.

"In terms of guys, there's Laxus, Mystogan, the master, and probably me." Elfman admits with Sakura moreso towards the back taking notice of Elfman's claim.

The crowd suddenly begins to be quiet as Erza raises her sword to silence them. "Before we start, are you sure about this Natsu and Ichigo? Last time I fought with either of you, it didn't go very well."

Natsu suddenly steps forward blowing fire out of his noise excitedly, "That was when we were kids! I've grown a lot since then!"

Ichigo steps forward as well, "I want to know how far the gap is between us Erza. I'm not backing down."

Erza smiles, "Alright then, I'm not back down. **Requip: Flame Purgatory Armor!**" Suddenly, a bright shining light comes from Erza as her normal silver armor is replaced by a black and red armor with a flame sword in her hand.

"Woow!" Lucy marvels this being her first time seeing her magic.

"Erza's magic is a requip type. Instead of just a sword like Ichigo, she can requip whole armors to boost her stats in battle! Flame Purgatory Armor boosts her fire resistance!" Mirajane gives her in-depth analysis of the situation with Lucy watching in awe at Erza's beauty.

Happy stares for a second before heading back over to Cana, "Can I change my bet to Erza?"

"Do you have no shame you damn cat!?" Lucy shouts at Happy.

"**Soul Sword!**" Ichigo holds out his hand with his sword appearing in it as the three fighters ready themselves for one another.

"Let the battle begin!" Makarov suddenly chimes in.

"Why are you supporting this!?" Lucy asks in surprise as suddenly the fight starts off with Natsu igniting his hands aflame and rushing Erza punching into her armor.

"**Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!**" Natsu ignites his fit on fire again punching into Erza who stands there unmoved by Natsu's attack against her. Natsu's eyes widen as she kicks forward, however Ichigo jumps in front using his sword to block the kick.

"They're really giving it their all!" Luffy watches with excitement as the three's magic power clashes with each other.

"Of course! If they didn't, they wouldn't be manly!" Elfman speaks up pounding his muscular chest.

"But Erza isn't a man…" Happy retorts flying around to watch the battle.

"Get out of the way Ichigo, Erza is mine!" Natsu grabs Ichigo's head vaulting over and igniting his foot on fire kicking at Erza. "**Fire Dragon's Claw!**" The attack barely fazes Erza who grabs Natsu and punches him back leaving Ichigo standing there.

"Come at me Ichigo," Erza taunts putting her sword out in front of her with Ichigo readying himself as well.

"Y-yeah!" Ichigo charges forward going for a large swing which Erza ducks under proceeding to punch Ichigo in the stomach boosting the attack with fire and sending him into Natsu.

"Hey, get off me!" Natsu growls throwing Ichigo off of him and charging back at Erza and leaping at her doing a spin kick that she blocks with her forearm. Ichigo then from behind Natsu slices upwards chipping away at Erza's armor slightly causing her to back up and Natsu to fall. "Alright, I'm getting fired up!"

Erza smiles, "Indeed, let's keep-"

"Erza Scarlet?" A voice suddenly calls from the crowd with everyone turning to it. A frog-man stood there dressed in robes that resemble the council's garbs. "I'm placing you under arrest,"

The whole crowd is stunned including Erza and the other Fairy Tail members as the frog-man walks up to Erza placing cuffs on her reverting her back to her normal armor.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Natsu calls out about to charge at the frog-man when Ichigo grabs him holding him back. "Let go of me! You can't just take her!"

"Shut up Natsu," Gray suddenly says from behind Natsu as Makarov walks up to the representative from the council.

"On what grounds is the council arresting one of my children?" Makarov asks with a quiet anger surrounding him causing a lot of the crowd to begin to disperse.

"We've found Erza Scarlet guilty of many actions related to property damage that cannot be ignored. If you stand against me, you stand against the council." The representative explains with guards coming up from out of the crowd pushing their way through and grabbing Erza by the arms. Makarov growls standing there as they walk away and the civilians leave and go back to their normal routine.

"Old man, why did you let them take Erza!?" Naruto suddenly shouts along with Natsu who get up in his face about it as Makarov just begins to walk past the two.

"We'll have to see the outcome of this… don't make any rash decisions you two." Makarov says knowing that both would want to charge in and set things straight. Naruto stands there clenching his fists as he watches Erza be taken away in the distance once again feeling like he's unable to help his friends.

"H-hey Natsu…" Happy comes up and tugs on Natsu's pant leg with Natsu looking down at Happy before nodding and walking off inside the guild hall. Lucy watches everything happen in front of her with a saddened expression as she follows after Natsu and a majority of the Fairy Tail members into the guild hall.

"Elfman, are you still headed out for your job?" Mirajane asks worried that he would miss something important at the Guild if he was to leave.

"Sorry sis…" Elfman places a hand on Mirajane's shoulder. "But I took the job, I wouldn't be a man if I didn't complete it." He begins to walk away after the small exchange between him and his sister as he begins to head out. However, Sakura follows closely behind.

**~With Erza~**

After arriving at the Council's headquarters, Erza is being escorted by armed guards towards her jail cell when she sees something that makes her heart skip a beat. This skip isn't out of joy nor is it out of sadness, it's out of rage and fear. The man walking towards her with the most knowingly smug grin, Seigrain, a council member.

"You…" Erza lets out as she locks eyes with the man. She knows the truth behind him, she knows who he truly is. "I should've known you were behind this,"

"Master Seigrain!" The guards shout kneeling to him as he walks up to Erza and the armed escort.

"My, my, Erza Scarlet. You pain me. It's ironic, but I was actually in favor of Fairy Tail in this particular scenario, but those old geezers like to be dramatic." Seigrain puts his hand under Erza's head pulling it close as he smiles. The red markings on his face were what took up most of Erza's vision and his blue hair became a contrast to Erza's red hair. "You won't say anything, right Erza?" He whispers gently into Erza's ear as Erza grits her teeth, a pain forming inside her as the truth wants out, but she slowly nods.

"I won't…" Erza growls as Seigrain lets go of her and backs off beginning to walk away leaving her trembling. The guards get up pushing her along as she goes back into her thoughts.

**~At Fairy Tail~**

"I knew the council hated Fairy Tail, but… isn't this a bit too far?" Lucy thinks aloud as she lays her head down on the table.

"It's possible they want to make an example out of Erza," Cana comments bluntly taking another swig of alcohol looking down as she clenches her fist. _"Dammit Erza, why you? You're the strongest of us."_ Cana begins to tear up as she forces down another drink.

Luffy stands looking around at the majority of Fairy Tail being down in the dumps as he just clenches his fists and lowers his hat. Natsu keeps his head on the table alongside Natsu and Lucy as a feeling of hopelessness forms in the hearts of Fairy Tail. Luffy grits his teeth at this as he begins to walk towards the exit.

"Where are you going?" Gray suddenly steps out in front of Luffy stopping him from walking any further.

"I'm going to save Erza, what else?" Luffy replies blankly with Gray's face suddenly dropping in surprise.

"WHAT ARE YOU THINKING IDIOT!?" Gray smacks him across the head with Luffy groaning and holding it. Luffy then looks down clenching his fists again.

"I won't let another one of my friends be taken away from me. If I'm to be the Guildmaster I want to be, I need to be able to protect my friends!" Luffy cries out charging past Gray knocking him over as Natsu and Naruto's heads raise up watching as he runs off.

"We gotta stop him-!" Gray begins to say before being held back by Makarov.

"Let him go… we can't hold back his true feelings any longer." Makarov walks back over the bar as a majority of Fairy Tail begins to go back to talking.

"Luffy…" Naruto in that moment suddenly can't hold himself back anymore as he charges at the door. "Wait up Luffy! I'm coming too!" Natsu seems him leaving and jumps out of his chair with Happy flying around him.

"Yeah, let's go save Erza! I'm getting fired up!" Natsu shouts excitedly running out the door as Gray and Lucy can't do anything but facepalm. Ichigo walks up next to Gray and Lucy watching as Natsu, Happy, Naruto and Luffy race off to save Erza.

"You're not going Ichigo?" Lucy sounds surprised as she looks over at him.

"No… I know Erza wouldn't want me to hurt the Guild by going against the Council. But, I hope they succeed." Ichigo speaks aloud as he goes back to sitting around and waiting for news.

As Natsu, Naruto and Luffy race off to save Erza, Sakura keeps up with Elfman on his dangerous job! What does Sakura want from Elfman? Will Team Save Erza succeed? One thing is for sure, a dark and malevolent force works in the background as things begin to slowly unravel towards a climax of events.

* * *

**Natsu, Luffy, and Naruto arrive at the Council! Back at Fairy Tail, word begins to get around about Erza's capture and people think it's their opportunity to strike, but a certain Fairy Tail member has something to say about that! Elfman and Sakura's dangerous mission!**  
**Next Time: The Star's Patience!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here we are with Chapter 9! Next chapter we'll properly get into the new arc, but I hope you all enjoy this breather chapter! I got to say, I think this one might be my favorite chapter so far in all honesty, so let me know what you all think!**

* * *

**Chapter 9: The Star's Patience**

Word had traveled fast about Erza's arrest due to the public nature of the arrest during the fight between her, Ichigo, and Natsu. Rumors began to spread like wildfire, and some were a bit more exaggerated than others…

"Titania of Fairy Tail got arrested!" A wild looking man with weird face tattoos shouts to a bunch of other rough looking guys at the bar.

"I think this poses an opportunity fellas…" A man with dark black and unkept hair says in the back looking up with a silver necklace around his neck. "Round up the troops! Today, we take on Fairy Tail." Those in the bar all looking wild and rowdy begin to chant the end of Fairy Tail in unison as the man with the necklace just smiles devilishly.

**~With Elfman~**

The wind begins to pick up under Elfman's feet, it feels like the mountain itself that he climbs is working against him. However, it was much worse for the girl following after him from behind. Her pink hair being pushed back and due to her smaller figure, she was having a much harder time keeping up with Elfman's pace. _"Why am I even doing this to myself? Did I really let that pig Ino get under my skin? What am I getting myself into?"_ Sakura thinks all of this to herself as doubt begins to creep in as she thinks back to the hours before. She had been on a mission with Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji to track down a dangerous animal that had been terrorizing a small town. But, she got regulated to a damsel in distress when the animal sapped her of her magical power. "I need to get stronger…" She says to herself pushing forward up the mountain as she suddenly can't see Elfman anymore. "What…?"

"Get down!" Elfman suddenly jumps from the side tackling Sakura as the ground underneath her clamps together which would've definitely killed her. "Sakura?! What are you doing here?"

"Later!" Sakura shouts as the two avoid another boulder that crashes between them.

"Leave this place!" An old and hollowed voice commands as a shockwave is sent at Elfman and Sakura causing them to skid back. "**Earth Magic: Shake!**" Suddenly the ground begins to shatter under the two mages.

"Hold on! **Beast Arm: Iron Bull!**" Elfman suddenly has a magical circle shoot up his arm as it completely turns to iron and he slams it into the ground. Sakura reaches out grabbing onto Elfman's legs as he holds the two of them in place against the ground.

"It's useless. **Earth Magic: Crashing Boulder!**" The voice calls out as a stone boulder forms completely in front of Elfman beginning to roll straight for them. Elfman lets go for a split-second punching into the boulder with it beginning to push against Elfman.

"Get out of here Sakura!" Elfman shouts worried for her safety as she lets go of his legs and looks out towards the top of the mountain.

"No, I can help! **Support Magic: Strength Boost!**" A magical circle appears in front of Sakura with her pink hair still blowing in the wind as Elfman begins to glow crushing the boulder immediately. Sakura breathes a sigh of relief along while Elfman looks around with a worried look on his face.

"Listen Sakura… you need to get out of here. I can't protect us both from that maniac's attacks." Elfman pounds his fist against his chest trying to psych himself up as he looks around for the source of the attack.

"No! I ca-can help!" Sakura stutters as the doubt from before begins to swell within her. However, as she says that another boulder comes barreling towards the two mages. Sakura jumps off to the side narrowly avoiding the boulder as Elfman punches into it again.

"GO!" Elfman shouts beginning to buckle under the strength of the boulder. Sakura looks around confused as to where they're getting attacked from and if Elfman will be alright without her.

"_He won't make it without me. Even with my strength boost, he's having a hard time with the boulders. I need to stay and figure out where the enemy is."_ Sakura thinks to herself getting off the ground and beginning to look around. "**Support Magic: Vision Boost!**" Sakura's eyesight is increased in range and clarity as she begins to look around for the source of the attacks. Thanks to her spell, she spots an older man hiding behind some rocks with multiple magical circles around him. "Elfman, I see hi-!"

"**Earth Magic: Sinkhole!**" The old man has another larger magical circle appear before him as a massive sinkhole appears under Sakura and Elfman as they begin falling down into the darkness below…

**~With Erza~**

"Erza Scarlet, we find you guilty." The council announces with it being a shot through the chest for Erza. She grits her teeth unsure of what is about to happen or if she would be sent to jail. "However, you will be sent back to your Guild with a warning." Suddenly, Erza's head shifts up realizing what was going on.

"This… was all just a formality?" Erza asks with a still confused and worried feeling that someone from Fairy Tail might do something stupid. _"Surely nobody from Fairy Tail would be stupid enough to go against the council,"_ She thinks to herself in a moment of confidence.

"That is-" Just as a member of the council is about to speak up a large explosion breaks apart the wall behind Erza with Natsu, Naruto, and Luffy standing there.

"We're busting you out Erza!" Natsu shouts excitedly with flames surrounding his fists as guards begin to surround them pulling out their weapons. Erza's face suddenly drops as she realizes what they've just done.

"You…" Erza's absolute dumbfounded expression told the whole story. "IDIOTS!"

"E-eh?" Naruto takes a step back in fear along with Luffy.

"I was about to be let go!" Erza shouts at the three mages who now have their turn to look dumbfounded.

"EHHHHH!?" All three shout as they're all suddenly cuffed by various members of the elite Council guard. A council member sighs loudly holding his head as a migraine begins to overtake him.

"Your orders?" A guard asks the council as they turn to the eldest of the Council.

"Put them in a cell for tonight…" The man replies with a large sigh as Erza turns to Natsu, Naruto, and Luffy smacking them each at least once. As they're taken away, Seigrain watches from the Council table putting his hands together.

"That Fairy Tail… full of surprises as always." He chuckles aloud. _"We'll meet again Fairy Tail,"_ Seigrain thinks to himself with a smirk while the four mages are thrown into a dungeon cell and locked in.

"What were you all thinking!?" Erza has been continuing to berate the three who hang their heads like a bunch of children being scolded by their mother.

**~At Fairy Tail~**

Lucy sits at the bar sighing to herself, "I think I'm going to head home Mira. Can someone come get me when Natsu gets arrested?" She asks grabbing her keys and miniature bag.

"Of course, stay safe!" Mirajane chirps happily as she hands another Fairy Tail member a drink. As Lucy is on her way out of the door, an arm wraps around her neck.

"LUCYyy…take me with youuuu," Cana, absolutely wasted, requests barely even able to stand as she holds onto Lucy.

"Y-you're totally wasted…" Lucy doesn't find herself all that surprised due to her only seeing Cana drink and never anything else when in the Guild. She sighs patting Cana on the head as she holds her arm. "Come on, let's go."

"Lucy is so niiiice," Cana had tears streaming down her face from joy as Lucy sighs carrying her out. As the two begin heading back towards Lucy's apartment, they pass by a waterfront area where loud screeching could be heard.

"The heck is that?" Lucy thinks aloud to herself as Cana is fully passed out at this point. Suddenly a man with a black coat and torn black hat comes from around the corner with a full armada of women surrounding him.

"JOTAROOO!" The women would coo as the man held his head in shame. Jotaro suddenly has enough and turns to the women with a scary expression on his face.

"Shut up you annoying hags!" Jotaro shouts at the women as a moment of silence comes over the area as Lucy watches.

"AHHHH, SO COOL!" The women shout in unison continuing to crowd around Jotaro as Lucy's face drops.

"_Th-this poor guy…"_ Lucy thinks to herself as she continues to carry Cana past him. Jotaro then turns sharply pushing the women around him to the floor as a silver lance flies past his arm cutting through it and drawing blood. Lucy just barely dodges it as well pulling Cana out of it's range as the two hit the pavement.

"Damn it…" Jotaro mutters under his breath as he looks down the street he had just come from with the thugs from before standing there menacingly. "Who the hell are you?"

"The name's Musica, and today I thought I'd mess with some fairies." A creepy smile appears on his face as the thugs around him begin pulling out silver weapons of their own.

"_This guy is from Fairy Tail?"_ Lucy looks at Jotaro in shock as she leaves Cana on the ground and stands up running over next to Jotaro. "Anyone who messes with Fairy Tail, has to deal with all of Fairy Tail!"

"You…" Jotaro looks at Lucy with the same scary expression as Lucy sweats a bit from the stare. "I have no idea who you are,"

She hangs her head instantly before holding up her hand with the Fairy Tail insignia. "I'm a member of Fairy Tail too," Musica then looks past Lucy and Jotaro seeing Cana as he begins chuckling.

"Three fairies for the price of one, this is just _music_ to my ears." He then puts forward his hand as the other thugs go charging at Lucy, Jotaro, and Cana.

"Let's go…" Jotaro retorts dodging a sword strike from a thug before grabbing their wrist and twisting it around so that he can kick into their back. Lucy nods taking out her whip and cracking it as a man with an axe comes charging at her which she barely manages to avoid. She then quickly shoots her arm forward with the end of the whip smacking against the man's head causing him to fall back. Jotaro grabs another by the face and slams the thug into the wall. Just as that happens, one of the thugs comes up from behind attempting to stab into Jotaro, but Lucy manages to turn swinging her whip as the sword causing him to drop it. Jotaro turns with his scary demeanor showing through as the man he stares at begins to tremble. "Go to hell," Jotaro grabs the man slamming him against his knee and pushing him off to the side.

"_Brutal…"_ Lucy thinks in her head as the two mages turn their attention back to Musica who isn't standing there anymore.

"Lucy?" Cana's voice calls out with Lucy and Jotaro turning suddenly to see Musica holding her in place with his arm around her neck.

"CANA!" Lucy shouts about to move forward as Jotaro puts his hand out for her to stop.

"Ever since I was a boy, it was Fairy Tail this or Fairy Tail that. I'm sick of it! Today, I'm going to take a fairy out of this world!" Musica declares tightening his grip on Cana's neck as she begins to struggle and claw at his arm.

"Yare yare…" Jotaro sighs as he stretches out his hand as Musica tightens his grip.

"Don't come near me, I'll do it!" Musica shouts crazily with Lucy looking at Jotaro with worry.

"**Stand Magic: Star Platinum!**" Just as Jotaro utters those words, Lucy can see a purple being materialize next to Jotaro with an ethereal feel to the being. "I barely know those in my guild, but… the thought of one of them being taken out by you sickens me."

"What are you going to do about it!? Your spell didn't work!" Musica naively declares holding Cana tightly who also is staring at Star Platinum in awe.

"_He can't see it? Oh yeah! Stand Magic can only be seen by other Stand users, so why can I see it?"_ Lucy thinks to herself before looking down at her hand at the Fairy Tail emblem thinking that perhaps there is a link between the two.

Jotaro takes a single step forward as Star Platinum lunges forward unbeknownst to Musica as he gets punched across the jaw without any forewarning causing him to drop Cana. Lucy runs forward grabbing Cana and pulling her away from the fight. "You want to kill fairies?" Star Platinum grabs a hold of Musica's neck. "Then try me on for size!" Star Platinum suddenly unleashes a flurry of rapid-fire punches against Musica's head. "ORA ORA ORA!" Musica is rocking back and forth unable to make any sort of coherent though as he suddenly puts his two fists together.

"**Silver Make: Wall!**" Suddenly a silver magical circle appears as a silver wall shoots out of the ground with Star Platinum barely avoiding it as it goes back to hovering next to Jotaro. Musica stumbles back after being let go bleeding from multiple places on his face. "I won't let you take this moment away from me FAIRY TAIL! **Silver Make: Killer Lance!**" Suddenly multiple silver jagged and sharp lances are shot out of the magical circle towards Jotaro.

Lucy suddenly jumps in front with a key in her hand, "**Open the Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!**" A magical circle appears as Cancer is summoned which immediately deflects all of the silver lances out of the air.

"Nice to see you Lucy. Want a haircut? Ebi ebi?" Cancer asks taking out two pairs of scissors.

"Wha-? No! Well… maybe, but not right now. Focus on the task at hand!" Lucy says in a flustered manner as Cancer nods turning to Musica.

"You won't make a fool out of me! **Silver Make: Barrier!**" Musica suddenly creates a spiked barrier around him as he slams his hands together again breathing hard as his magic is close to gone. "**Silver Make: Sword!**" He fashions himself a sword and now stands there like a cornered animal.

Jotaro and Lucy both step forward ready to fight again when suddenly a glass bottle flies towards Musica smacking into his head with him falling to the ground unconscious. "Lucyyy, let's go hooome." Cana starts heading towards Musica.

"You thought that was me!?" Lucy shouts in surprise as Cana turns her head and looks at Lucy before looking back at Musica. She then grabs onto Musica.

"LUCY!" Cana shouts as Lucy sighs realizing she's totally out of it. Lucy turns to Jotaro who sighs.

"I'll take Cana back to my place. It was nice meeting you Jotaro, I'm sure Cana will be grateful that you saved her when she's sober." Lucy goes to pick up Cana as Jotaro nods before helping her pick up Cana. "Why are you-?"

"I'm not around the guild often, but you're still my family." Jotaro simply says as Lucy smiles and the three of them head back to Lucy's apartment.

**~With Sakura & Elfman~**

Sakura begins to open her eyes before flinching as the light enters her eyes again causing her to squint. "Sakura!? Sakura!" Elfman shouts holding her close as she coughs with a bit of dust being displaced in the air.

"Elfman? Wh-where are we?" She manages to get out coughing again as Elfman looks at her wiping his face off as he looks upwards.

"It seems that coward threw us for a loop and trapped us in a sinkhole," Elfman says with a bit of disdain behind his voice as he helps Sakura get into a standing position before she suddenly feels a sharp pain in her leg falling back down.

"I'm sorry Elfman…" Sakura finally breaks as tears begin to fall down her face. Elfman looks over with a confused face. "I guess I really am useless after all,"

Elfman looks at her with sympathy before sitting down next to her, "You're not useless Sakura, and you're certainly no coward." Sakura looks up at him. "Would I be right that you have no offensive magic?"

"Yeah…" Sakura admits to Elfman as he nods.

"Well then you're manly in your own way! You tried helping me and put yourself in danger, that is the Fairy Tail way." Elfman stands up extending a hand to Sakura. "Let's show that coward how manly we are!"

Sakura nods wiping her face as she takes his hand and stands back up, "Thank you Elfman,"

"Let's go! **Double Beast Arm: Stone Bull!**" Two magical circles suddenly shoot up Elfman's arms covering them in stone as he slams them into the wall. "Hop on my back!" Elfman shouts.

"Eh!? A-alright…" Sakura reluctantly gets on Elfman's back as he suddenly begins scaling the large chasm with his arms. After about five minutes of solid climbing, they finally reach the top of the sinkhole. Elfman spreads out on the ground breathing heavily from the physical exertion it took to get up there. "**Support Magic: Vision Boost!**" Sakura increases her vision as she begins to look around the area for signs of the man she saw. She then sharply turns seeing the man slowly walking towards them.

"I told you to leave! **Earth Magic: Shake!**" The man holds out his ragged arms as a shockwave is sent towards both of the Fairy Tail mages.

"Get behind me!" Elfman shouts jumping in front of Sakura and using his Double Beast Arms to block the shockwave from hitting them, but it skids them closer to the sinkhole.

"**Support Magic: Defense Boost! **Do it Elfman." Sakura touches Elfman as his magic seems to be increased in durability. He smiles for just a second before launching himself at the old man.

"Stay away you beast!" The man shouts throwing up a rock wall that Elfman easily smashes through in a total frenzy as he begins rapidly punching through the obstacles placed in his way by the old man.

"**Double Beast Arm: Iron Bull!**" Elfman shouts as both of his arms are now clad in iron as he delivers the final blow through the old man's defenses sending him flying across the ground. Elfman walks over picking the old man up by the back of his clothing and punching into his stomach to knock him unconscious. "Now we can finally get you back to the nursing home, you coward."

"Nursing home?!" Sakura says in shock that this old retired man nearly wiped the floor with them completely.

"Yeah, I got the job from the nursing home. Boomy here is a frequent escapee." Elfman undoes the magic on his arms as he puts Boomy over his shoulder. "Let's head back to the Guild,"

"R-right…" Sakura quickly follows behind as the two begin heading back towards the Guild.

**~The Next Day~**

"Natsu got arrested?!" Lucy exclaims worriedly after being told by Mirajane.

"According to the Master, it was all just a formality with arresting Erza. They should be back tomorrow." Mirajane smiles unbothered as she goes back to her work behind the counter.

"Natsu, Naruto, and Luffy got arrested, eh? These young folks just keep getting more reckless by the day, right Macao?" Wakaba chimes in with his drinking buddy as the two laugh and toast each other.

Meanwhile Sakura recounts her adventures with Elfman although exaggerated to Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji.

"Man don't listen to Ino, she just gets hotheaded sometimes Sakura." Shikamaru lazily retorts leaning back in his chair as he's suddenly punched through it by Ino.

"I'm not hotheaded!" Ino growls forming a fist as Sakura laughs under her breath before suddenly Elfman comes over.

"Sakura, I wanted to say thanks for helping out with the job." He extends a hand out to her. "I wouldn't mind teaming up more often,"

She takes the hand as they shake, "Thanks, I would like that."

Lucy sits at the counter looking up at Mirajane, "Hey Mira, I met Jotaro yesterday and I could see his magic. Shouldn't only Stand Magic users be able to see it?" Lucy asks curiously as Mirajane nods.

"Normally, yes, but we can see his Stand thanks to our Guild crests." Mirajane points to Lucy's hand as she nods thinking to herself that she's happy that she was right about it being connected.

Lucy looks at her guild crest smiling to herself as she thinks back to what Jotaro said, _"Despite how different we all are, this guild connects us as family. I love being in Fairy Tail."_

* * *

**Naruto wants to take on a stronger job! The strongest member of Fairy Tail? Why is Gray so upset?  
Next Time: The S-Class Job!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Here we go, the next arc in full swing! This is a shorter chapter, but the next few are most likely going to be pretty long. With Christmas being tomorrow, I hope you all have an amazing holiday season and enjoy this chapter of Fairy Tail madness!**

_**And for this holiday, I have a challenge for you guys. If this fic can hit 30 reviews before I post Chapter 11, I'll release a full idea of the main cast pairings.**_

**That's all I got, so have some happy holidays and Merry Christmas Eve!**

* * *

**Chapter 10: The S-Class Job**

Naruto stands by himself looking at a list of jobs on the job board, _"These all seem… so lame."_ Naruto thinks to himself before turning to Makarov. "What happened to all the good jobs?"

"What are you babbling about now Naruto? There's plenty of high-paying jobs on there." Makarov sighs not wanting to have to deal with Naruto's whining again.

"Come on Gramps! 'Guard the Beauty Salon', 'Retrieve a Lost Pet', these are all so boring!" Naruto whines to Makarov who hangs his head.

"Keep it down, whisker face!" Gray suddenly shouts at Naruto who turns away from the job board. Lucy, Happy, Luffy, and Natsu enter the Guild just as Gray shouts out.

"What did you say droopy-eyes!?" Naruto charges over getting up in Gray's face. Gray looks at him for a second looking like he's about to fight back when he just sighs and sits back down. "Yeah, sit down!"

Natsu watches on running over to Naruto and Gray, "Ehh? You're not just gonna take that, are you Gray!?" Natsu puffs fire out of his nose.

"Shut it, Natsu." Gray sighs getting out of his chair and walking out of the Guild.

"Is… is Gray okay?" Lucy asks worriedly looking over to Natsu and Naruto shrug.

"He always gets pretty moody about this time of the year. He becomes a total pushover!" Natsu groans sitting down.

"Let's take a job and have Gray come with us to cheer him up!" Luffy offers aloud as Naruto and Natsu begin laughing.

"Me working with that guy? No way!" Natsu and Naruto both echo before turning to each other and begin wrestling on the ground.

"So single-minded…" Happy comments to himself.

"Well I thought it was a good idea…" Luffy rubs the back of his head while keeping his hat on as he walks over to the job board. "Do you wanna pick this time Lucy?"

"Oh- uh sure!" She walks over taking a good look at all the options as a thought occurs to her. "Where are Ichigo and Erza?" Luffy shrugs as Makarov walks along the counter over to the two.

"I sent the two of them out on a job. They won't be back for some time." Makarov explains as Lucy silently thinks to herself that it must be a crazy dangerous job to have Makarov send them out. Suddenly, a loud crashing noise occurs outside as the doors are kicked open.

"I'm back…" A blonde-haired man with a furry coat around his shoulders stands there with a wide and creepy smile.

"Laxus…" Mirajane mutters as he begins heading towards the bar with the entire Guild being silent at his arrival.

"Who's Laxus?" Lucy asks confused as a terrified Happy flies over.

"Laxus is one of the strongest members of Fairy Tail, an S-Class mage like Erza. Natsu tried to fight him once and it… didn't go well." Happy explains to Lucy and Luffy as Lucy begins to shake as well.

"Someone as powerful as Erza…?" She thinks to herself now being scared as well while Luffy steps out in front of Laxus.

"You beat Natsu?" Luffy asks him directly as Laxus gets a grin.

"Oh yeah, I crushed Natsu like a bug. Want a demonstration?" Laxus grins down on Luffy who grits his teeth as Happy come up from behind.

"Back off Luffy!" Happy pushes him back as Laxus just smirks and walks past him towards the second floor.

"I'll never give up my title as the strongest! Not to Erza, not to Mystogan, and definitely not to some weakling like Natsu." Laxus laughs as he heads up the second floor stairs while Makarov sighs to himself in an almost embarrassed nature.

"Why you…!" Luffy clenches his fist as Natsu rushes past him.

"Laxus, fight me!" Natsu shouts surprising everyone as Laxus looks down from the second floor.

"You were just defeated by Erza though…" Warren comments next to him.

"He's right. If you were beat by Erza, you don't stand a chance against me." Laxus cackles to himself. "After all, I am the strongest member of Fairy Tail."

"Then come down here and fight me!" Natsu shouts angrily as his hands light on fire.

"Why don't you come up here?" Laxus taunts him with Natsu charging towards the staircase only to be slammed down by Makarov.

"That's enough out of both of you. You aren't allowed up there Natsu, and Laxus stop picking fights." Makarov growls before going back to sitting down on the counter with Natsu growling and turning away.

"Natsu…" Naruto looks at him.

"What a jerk…" Lucy mutters under her breath before turning to Mira. "What's on the second floor anyways?"

"S-Class jobs, the most high-paying, but also the hardest jobs meant to be a challenge for even S-Class mages. It's way too early for you to try something like that, even with Erza." Mirajane explains to Lucy with Natsu, Naruto, and Luffy looking up at the Second Floor and then at each other knowing that they have a shared idea.

**~With Gray~**

"_It's that day again…"_ Gray thinks to himself as he sits on a hillside by himself. He lays back looking up at the sky. _"Ur…"_ Gray's mind begins to wander as his thoughts are filled with destruction and a roaring that could be felt for miles as he ran. Gray grits his teeth punching the back of his fist into the ground as he sits back up.

Unknown to Gray, two pairs of eyes watch from the trees surrounding him. "This is the guy he wants? Doesn't look like much to me…"

"He's a member of Fairy Tail which means he's a threat. Don't underestimate him." The second figure takes out three daggers as his eyes flash red. Gray continues to sit there staring at the sky as the second figure lines up his attack and throws the daggers towards him.

Gray suddenly gets up and turns missing two of the knives, but getting hit by one in the leg causing him to cringe in pain. "I thought I heard something. Who's there!?"

"You don't need to know!" A weirdly high-pitched voice shouts from the first figure as a man with dog-like ears and shaggy hair comes running at Gray with extended claws. "**Extend!**" The man's claws suddenly extend with a green substance glowing off it.

"_Poison!"_ Gray looks down at the dagger stuck in his leg. _"I might already be poisoned, so I'm going to have to end this fast!"_ Gray just barely manages to dodge the first few swipes from the man as he puts his hands together. However, just as he puts his hands together a dagger flies out of the brush from the second figure causing him to separate his hands. "How did he know I was-?"

"**Poison Claw: Paralysis Swipe!**" The man shouts swiping towards Gray who dodges the physical swipe, but the magical slash sent out of it slams into Gray.

"AHH!" Gray shouts in pain as he begins to feel an electrical pain all over his body before falling over completely numb. _"I'm… done for…"_ Gray thinks to himself as he falls unconscious.

"Yeah, that's RIGHT!" The first figure shouts victoriously as the second figure comes out of hiding. He was much younger than the first one with wild black hair, red eyes that suddenly revert back to black, and a blue shirt with bands around his wrist.

"Calm down Toby, we still have to get him back to the island." The kid says coldly walking over and kicking into Gray's gut as he sees his Fairy Tail symbol. "Fairy Tail… how unsightly."

"Oh yeah, you have a brother in Fairy Tail don't you Sasuke?" Toby asks as suddenly Sasuke turns and with blinding speeds places a knife up to Toby's neck.

"Never speak of him again…" Sasuke lowers his weapon with Toby shaking in fright. "Let's go. Lyon is waiting for us." Toby shakily nods grabbing Gray and starting to drag him.

**~With Lucy~**

The day had mostly passed by and night had fallen across Magnolia Town. Lucy finds herself making her way back into her apartment in the dead of night. _"Gray never came back to the guildhall… I hope he's alright."_ She yawns as she opens the door with Natsu, Naruto, Luffy, and Happy all sitting around the floor of Lucy's apartment doing various things as Lucy's jaw begins to slowly drop.

"Oomph, oh hi Lucy!" Luffy shouts happily through stuffed cheeks with food.

"Welcome back," Natsu says casually as him and Happy are working out in the corner.

"Took you long enough," Naruto sat there with his clones playing chess with himself.

"STOP EATING MY FOOD!" Lucy lunges at Luffy kicking him in the stomach as she turns to Natsu. "YOUR SWEAT STINKS!" She launches another kick into Natsu with her turning to Naruto as he begins to have a frightened face form across him. "STOP PLAYING WITH YOURSELF!" She slams into the clone making it dissipate. "Go back to your own homes! Stop breaking into my apartment!"

"What do you mean? We're a team! Here, you can use this too!" Natsu holds out a dumbbell with a dumb smile across his face.

"You like pink, right Lucy?" Happy asks with a dumb smile as well.

"What am I supposed to do with an iron dumbbell!?" Lucy shouts still in surprise.

"We have to get stronger to beat Laxus!" Natsu declares as he suddenly starts a full rep of pushups alongside Happy.

"Aye sir!" Happy chirps as they continue doing pushups.

"Count me in!" Luffy says excitedly joining in on the pushups.

"I don't care! Go home!" Lucy whines aloud as Naruto pats her on the back.

"What a bunch of weirdos working out in someone else's home…" Naruto blankly says watching them work out as Lucy smacks him across the head.

"I don't wanna hear that from you!" She shouts as he suddenly falls on the ground and begins joining in on the pushups. "WHYYY!?"

"Let's stay up all night and train!" Natsu begins to get pumped up as he begins to do pushups faster.

"Aye sir." Happy gets a serious face trying to keep pace with Natsu.

"I'm not gonna lose out to Natsu!" Naruto's pushup pace begins to increase along with Luffy.

"This is ridiculous!" Lucy whines again as Natsu suddenly stops grabbing everyone's attention as he looks up at Lucy with a devilish grin.

"I've made a decision…" Natsu says with Lucy looking at him confused while Luffy and Naruto grin. "We're going to do an S-Class job Lucy!" Happy suddenly reaches into his pouch pulling out a job request for a cursed island with the reward being 7,000,000 jewels!

"How did you get that!?" Lucy reels back in shock. "We're not supposed to go to the second floor right!?"

"I just took it," Happy says plainly with Lucy turning in a shocked look.

"You thieving cat!" Lucy shouts at Happy.

"Aye!"

"Since it's our first S-Class job, I told them we should take the lowest paying job, but it's still 7 million jewels." Naruto comments excitedly as Natsu puts his coat back on.

"No! We're not qualified for S-Class jobs, we could seriously die!" Lucy shouts at them wanting for them to understand and not get themselves hurt or put into a situation where they won't come back.

"Yeah, but if we complete it then surely the Master will acknowledge us, right? It's one more step for me to become Guildmaster one day!" Luffy smiles widely putting a fist on his chest.

"Whatever, I'm not going. You four can go." Lucy pouts at her desk.

"Will you come if I give you half a fish?" Happy looks at her curiously as she looks at him confused.

"That's not gonna convince me!" Lucy shouts still standing her ground as Natsu puts on his scarf.

Naruto sighs grabbing the job request out of Lucy's pouch, "If a fish won't bring you along, then how about the reward? 7,000,000 jewels plus a Golden Gate Key." Naruto points towards the reward section on the request with Lucy's eyes glowing at that.

"Oho, I think you got her! Nice going!" Luffy congratulates Naruto with a pat on the back.

Lucy growls at the two, "F-fine! I'll go… but only because people need our help on this island!"

"Yeah that's not believable at all after how you looked at that reward…" Happy mutters to himself.

Natsu happily pounds his fists together, "Then it's a job! Let's get going!"

**~With Erza & Ichigo~**

"You're losing pace, do we need to stop and rest?" Erza asks Ichigo while looking down on him. The two were scaling a large mountain side and Ichigo was barely making it as the oxygen layer became thinner.

"No… this mission is too important." Ichigo tries to quicken his pace with the rock under his hand almost breaking apart as he jumps up to Erza.

"We can't be hasty. If they discover us, our whole mission will be for nothing." Erza begins climbing again with Ichigo As the two make it to the top and large sighs of relief come out of both Fairy Tail members, they look out at the valley that they were trying to see.

"Phantom Lord…" Ichigo mutters to himself as Erza and Ichigo look out at a massive guildhall with mages coming in and out as it looks more like fortress instead of a guildhall. "…Why are you getting ready to fight Fairy Tail?"

* * *

**Why was Gray captured? Who is this Sasuke? Will Team Natsu manage to survive their first S-Class mission?**  
**Next Time: The Demon Island!**


End file.
